Harry Potter and Firelight's Heir
by Paffy
Summary: Harry Potter is starting his fifth year, and soon finds himself mixed up in a life of secret organsations, new and mysterious characters, romance and disaster
1. The Midnight Message

AN/ This was my first ever attempt of writing a Harry potter fanfiction, and it took me literally _months_ to write. So far there are thirty chapters written, but I'm stuck for the ending. Please bear with it, it may start off slow but gets more exciting once you meet my new character! 

Disclaimer - Unfortunately I'm not a multi-millionaire named JKR…life sucks doesn't it?

Dedication - For Mabwenya, Archie and G!

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Harry Potter and Firelight's Heir

~*~*~ Chapter one ~*~*~

The Midnight Message

The silver moonlight shone and glistened on the feathers of the large bird that was soaring through the cool midnight air. The vibrant red and orange plumage danced like flames in a fire, as the bird swooped over the rooftops of Surrey. Lower and lower it glided until it spotted its destination, a small house, its garden perfectly manicured garden with a company car gleaming in the driveway. 

The great bird swooped even lower ready to relieve its burden.

Meanwhile Harry Potter was dreaming.

"Harry! Hurry up! You're late for your Potions exam! He's taking a point away for every second you're late!" said a voice.

In his dream, the boy turned around, seeing his best friends Hermione and Ron hand-in-hand, walking towards him. He was speaking to them but no sound was coming out and he could feel mounting panic at the thought of Snape's wrath. 

Suddenly, before he could raise any sort of reaction to their words their faces began to change, becoming blurry and indistinct. After two or three seconds Harry realised they had changed into two people he knew only vaguely – his parents. 

"Not Harry! Not Harry! Please I'll do anything!" 

Harry could hear his mothers shrieks echoing around his ears and he tried desperately to block them out, but he couldn't stop the scene unfolding, couldn't stop himself hearing the voice he knew was coming next.

"Stand aside – stand aside girl," came that cold voice he'd dreaded, chilling him to the bone.

There was a whipcrack sound in his dream and he awoke with a start. Light from the street lamp outside shone through his small bedroom window and illuminated the face of the teenager, looking frantically around the shadowy corners of his room. 

Harry was sweating and shaking horribly as he orientated himself in the dark, gripping his bedsheet with one hand as he fumbled for the clock and his glasses. It was 2.46 a.m.

He had been having nightmares all summer, not just about his parents now, but of Cedric and his death at the end of the Triwizard tournament at his last year of Hogwarts. Whenever Harry thought of Cedric his stomach lurched, and the feeling of guilt grew inside of him. It was his fault he died, he told Cedric to take the cup, he delivered him right into the hands of Voldemort.

What would have happened if he'd not shared the prize he found himself wondering before he could stop himself, what if Cedric really had just taken it, or the fake-Moody's plan hadn't worked and Viktor or Fluer had got there first. Without Harry's blood Voldemort could never have risen again, Cedric would still be alive, the wizarding world wouldn't be sitting on the brink of war without even knowing about it. 

His thoughts were just turning to darker path when he heard a tapping at his bedroom window. He paused for a few seconds, unconsciously reaching for his wand as he wondered if he was hearing things before jumping to his feet, realising it was probably Hedwig returning from her hunting for the night. But when he caught sight of the bird perching precariously on his windowsill his jaw dropped open.

"Fawkes?" he breathed, fumbling to unlatch the window, pulling it open for the bird to get into his room. 

Dumbledore's pet Phoenix flew into his room and landed on his bed. Harry sat down by the phoenix and started stroking it, the warm feel of the bird's feathers beneath his fingers and the glow that surrounded the bird put the nightmare straight out of Harry's mind. Harry felt oddly comforted, as if Fawkes presence was the second best thing to having Dumbledore there, telling him that there had been a mistake, Voldemort hadn't risen at all, he was wrong, they were all safe. 

"What are you doing here Fawkes?" Harry murmured as he stroked the birds scarlet feathers. 

As if in answer, Fawkes fixed him with an almost Dumbledore-like look and held out its leg. His eyes fell on a scroll with spidery purple writing on. Harry relieved Fawkes of his burden, and at once the phoenix gave a trill of a heart warming song, stretched out his wings and soared out the room. Harry watched the bird leave with sadness, and the room became cold and grey again, and he found he already missed the golden glow that Fawkes gave out, it was the first friendly face Harry had seen all holiday. 

However, he turned his attention back to the scroll, studying it curiously before he pulled the red silk ribbon binding it together and unrolled the parchment, hoping desperately it was news from Dumbledore of his housing situation. 

At the top of the page was a crest, which depicted a phoenix rising from fire underneath it, holding a scroll in it claws. On the scroll the words '_Lumen obscurum vinco'_ were written. In the very centre of the page was a small square the same size a muggle stamp. In the dim moonlight Harry could just make out a movement of colour inside it. 

Frowning slightly, he pulled it towards him trying to make out what the picture was of. He held it closer to his face and drew it so near his nose was nearly touching it, hoping to catch sight of what was being lost in the gloom of the room. 

However, when his nose did touch the picture he was pitched forward and he fell headfirst into the page.

*

Harry didn't even have time to curse himself for doing something so obviously foolish as he flew through a rush of roaring air, seeing nothing but his hair being whipped about his eyes. Then, as suddenly as he had begun his journey, he landed on a cold flagstone floor. 

He tumbled forward and he glasses flew from his face smashing a small distance away with a sickening sound. He picked himself up, and whipped out his wand instantly, glaring around himself for any immediate danger. Through his blurred eyes he could make out a huge table, with a hundred seats around it inside a dank, stone lined chamber.

His first thought was that he was in a memory, as had happened when he had looked in Tom Riddles diary in his second year. Harry saw a chair to the left of him, and he seated himself at it, wondering who would want him to watch this meeting, and more importantly _why_. Harry squinted around the room witches and wizards were apparating all around him and seating themselves at the table. They all wore the same red robes with gold trim, with the crest of the phoenix on. At the far end of the table Harry had an impression of long silver hair, and knew at once that it was Dumbledore.

"Here you go Harry_,_" said a familiar voice to the side of him, causing him to jump.

He whipped around, seeing an impression of white clothing and a brown blob for a head, pushing something into his hands. He recognised the sorry form of his glasses and shoved them onto his nose quickly, peering through the spider web of cracks to see Hermione looking at him with an anxious expression.

"Hermione?" he said in confusion, before forgoing the usual greeting and demanding in a low whisper, "What's going on?" 

"I don't know I -" Hermione began, but a yelp cut her sentence short. 

A tangled mass of robes and legs landed behind their chairs and they whipped around, wands drawn. A shock of ginger hair and maroon was enough to tell Harry it was Ron who had just landed, and he rushed forward to help him up.

"Harry, Hermione!" he said in surprise as they picked him up, "What's going on?"

"I don't know, I just got this scroll delivered to me…." began Hermione, twisting her hands in front of her anxiously.

"…and when you opened it a read it you were suddenly transported here?" guessed Harry.

"Yes," she said grimly.

"Yeah, me too!" Ron added, looking around the room looking pale and wary, "What do you reckons up?"

"At first I thought this was a memory, but Dumbledore looks like his present day self, I don't know what to…make...of...it," Harry said slowly, realising the room had gone very quiet, at least 100 witches and wizards had arrived and they were all looking at the three.

"Thank you for turning up so quickly my friends," said Dumbledore, as he stood up.

There was the noise of 100 people murmuring in assent, and greeting various friends across the table at this and the three shared significant looks. Harry was feeling less worried about what was happening now with the appearance of a smiling Dumbledore and was now feeling increasingly curious.

"Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society of the most powerful witches and wizards of our time. This select community of 100 witches and wizards is centuries old and enlists the help of the most powerful to battle the forces of evil. As you know Voldemort rose again earlier this year, and now our camaraderie is needed more than ever. Last night, three good souls were taken from us, Claudius Clapser, Henry Barthez and Caerie Bell."

There was a sudden outcry of distress and gasps of horror at these words and Harry felt incredibly uncomfortable to these people sharing their grief over people he'd never seen or heard of before. Dumbledore nodded understandably and waved his hands for silence.

"They were murdered by two Death Eaters they had cornered in Rattery. But they fought bravely, and I ask you now to honour absent friends," said Dumbledore solemnly, picking up a goblet that had materialised on the table in front of him.

There was the sound of a hundred cups being picked up, a whisper throughout the room of 'absent friends' and the sound of silence as people drank. Harry shared at look with Ron and Hermione, who were watching the unfolding scene open-mouthed.

"Now, to business," said Dumbledore when everyone had sat back down, "now as you may or may not know, since the tragedy many names have been put forward to fill these places. And now before you, you see their replacements."

Harry gaped unceremoniously at this as the whispers filled the room again, as some people curiously debated over Dumbledore's words whilst other merely nodded stoically and waited for Dumbledore to continue. Harry however turned to Hermione who had a hand raised to her mouth, looking pale and shaken as Ron stared ahead at him at some fixed point unknown to anyone but him.

"It has come as a shock to them I can see, but to the rest of us, we know their worth and their power. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley are a formidable trio, who have faced many a peril before this time. In their first year, they bypassed tests set by the best teachers Hogwarts have ever seen. Harry himself fought Voldemort that night and they managed to hold him off. In their second year they identified the creature that was attacking students, found out where it was living, who was controlling it, and destroyed it. In their third year they tracked down Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black, and managed to prove Sirius's innocence to us all, which you have seen in my Pensieve. And this year, I'm afraid Harry witnessed the rebirth of Voldemort," he said heavily.

Ron and Hermione had turned to Harry whose eyes were downcast. He had never told them what had happened in between transportation's using the Triwizard cup portkey. He had never told them – and they had never asked. Dumbledore looked down the table, past the assembled witches and wizards, and at Ron and Hermione, whose imaginations were doing overtime. 

"Without your efforts, Voldemort would have returned to power four years ago, and without Harry's, Voldemort would have been at full strength these past 15 years."

Everyone in the hall were now faced at the three, they were all pale-faced but were smiling encouragingly. Harry looked around at Ron and Hermione, they looked like he felt – speechless. Ron's ears were pink. Hermione stared at them, "Powerful wizards and witches, us?" she whispered.

"Yes," said Dumbledore, Harry thought it amazing he had heard her, over the rumbling of the Order sitting around the magnificent table.

"Your names have been on this list ever since your fist year, we have followed your 'careers' closely," he said chuckling. Harry looked into Dumbledore's sparkling blue eyes, he always got the feeling that Dumbledore knew a lot more than Harry thought he let on.

"Now you three, it's nearly 4 a.m., when you return home, please do not speak of this to anyone other than who you see here, and even then in the strictest secrecy. We will inform you of tasks and the meetings. Now, you are welcome to stay and meet your new colleagues, I'm sure you'll recognise a few of them."

And as abruptly as it started the meeting was over. In the space of around five minutes they seemed to have been inducted into some kind of Defence Against the Dark Arts league and Harry head was swimming from the new information. 

However, he didn't have to time to even think or discuss it with his two friends as everyone stood up at the end of Dumbledore's speech and hurried over to meet them. It was only at this time Harry looked at the people's faces that had been sitting around them, and when he saw who had been sitting two seats away he gasped.

"Sirius! Wha – What are you doing here?" Harry stammered.

"Do you think I'd miss this? Anyway I've been a member of the Order for about 18 years!" Sirius replied with a huge grin on his face, "on and off of course."

Harry was about to protest about the lack of precautions when Sirius cut in hastily.

"Don't worry Harry! No body knows about the Order, not even the Ministry, I'm safe, everyone knows I'm innocent here."

"Anyway, we wouldn't want a little thing like being accused of murder stop old Padfoot here from doing his job," another voice answered.

"Professor Lupin!" Harry gasped, "You're here as well?"

"It would seem so Harry," he said smiling.

Harry grinned at his Godfather and one of his dad's best friends, and scanned the room. He saw Ron surrounded by a group of redheaded people, their robes clashing horribly with their hair. Harry couldn't even register his shock at seeing that practically the whole Weasley family was in the Order, he was passed surprises at this time, but it seemed there was one more in store for him.

"What do you think Harry?" said a warm voice he recognised behind him.

Harry turned around and saw Dumbledore standing next to him, with his arm steering towards him a small witch with a shock of grey hidden beneath a large purple hat.

"Harry, I would like you to meet Arabella Figg, I believe you may know her already?" asked Dumbledore, eyes twinkling.

Harry glanced at the witch before realising who was looking at. It was mad old Mrs Figg who Harry always had to stay with when the Dursley's wanted to go somewhere and not have to worry about where to put him. Overwhelming memories of albums of cat photos, stale cakes and episodes of Countdown came back to him in a rush.

"Hello Harry," she said in a warm voice, quite unlike the one he was used to. 

"Erm...Hello, Mrs Figg" said Harry his mind reeling, all those years he had known Mrs Figg he'd never guessed, never knew. He doubted if even eagle eyed Aunt Petunia had known. Dumbledore must have sensed this.

"Harry, Arabella has been looking out for you ever since I had left you in the Dursley's care. I always told you there were more than spells that protected you from Voldemort didn't I? She has been looking over you for me, I had a feeling your aunt and uncle would neglect your upbringing in some way. I feared that at these times Voldemort or his followers would take the opportunity to hurt you. Arabella is another part of your protection that has lasted these last 15 years," Dumbledore explained.

"Right," said Harry weakly, trying to figure out how you're supposed to react to finding out something like that.

"I have enjoyed looking after you Harry. I don't think even you realise how well protected you have been, and now I'm going to continue my job Dumbledore set me all those years ago," she said, a far-off look in her eyes that reminded him forcefully of the times she was about to begin another story about Mr Tibbles.

"How…?" began Harry.

"Arabella will be your new Defence against Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts," said Dumbledore chuckling quietly to himself.

"Yes," said Arabella, "I do hope I last longer than your other teachers."

"Wow…that's er," managed Harry, before taking a steadying breath and calming himself, "congratulations."

Mrs Figg smiled warmly and Dumbledore began a quiet conversation with her, before they began looking thoughtfully for someone in the crowd. Harry looked over to Ron who was now standing next to Hermione who was in deep conversation with a wizened old man. Ron had a rather fixed smile on his face, and seeing Harry, waved and hurried over. Harry grinned nervously at Ron who was looking rather worried.

"Professor Dumbledore," he said quietly, trying as much as possible to block Harry from the conversation, "I think you might have made a mistake, there's no way I can do any of the stuff your expecting. Hermione has the intelligence and Harry has the bravery, but…but I don't have really have anything…" 

He looked nervously at Harry, who had seemed to take the hint and was in polite conversation with a small witch, looking intensely uncomfortable. Dumbledore looked down at Ron his face was sympathetic, and his eyes were warm.

"Ron," he said, barely audible, "Things are not always as they seem, you have extraordinary talents hidden inside of you, you just need to find the key to unlock them."

"But...I don't know...I cant -," stuttered Ron.

"I believe firmly that any student capable of magic is capable of _anything_," he told him so quietly, Ron wasn't sure he had said anything at all, because the next moment;

"Goodness Gracious," boomed Dumbledore looking at his pocket watch, Ron couldn't see any hands, just planets slowly revolving, though it must have made sense to Dumbledore.

"You must return before your absence is noticed," he told Harry and Hermione, ushering them over to the other side of the room, "Now to get home place your hand on this statues head and say the name of the place you want to go." 

He had to shout the last part of his instructions of the sound of a hundred people apparating.

Harry said a slightly dazed goodbye to Mrs Figg then waved to Sirius and Lupin and walked over to the statue, which was of a magnificent phoenix, which seemed to be made entirely out of fire. Harry placed his hand in the warm golden fire of the birds head, and said '4 Privet Drive' carefully, he'd had bad experiences with floo powder, which he supposed this was a modified version of. 

Harry was engulfed in golden flame and a feeling of extraordinary lightness seemed to spread throughout him as his feet left the floor, it was rather like eating a huge slab of chocolate after facing a Dementor, instant relief and calm. He watched the beautiful flickers of gold and red flash before his eyes, before he suddenly felt his feet return to the floor. 

A sudden wave of coldness swept over him and he realised that he wasn't he wasn't back in his gloomy, dark bedroom in Privet Drive. But he was on the lawn, facing the road, he shivered but chuckled to himself. He enjoyed the ride using the phoenix, it wasn't nearly as bad as Floo Powder, but wasn't nearly as reliable. 

Then he became aware of something in the air around him, something he that caused his smile to freeze on his face. He could smell burning and could hear the crackling of flames. He spun round and looked at the house, or what was left of it. A great bonfire stood where his Four Privet Drive had once been, consuming the rubble of the house.

"NO!" Harry screamed and ran forward but was pushed back by the heat which was blistering his skin.

He stumbled backwards in utter horror, slipping and sliding on the wet grass and wildly calling for help. He tripped backwards over a small stone in the rockerie and landed sprawled on the floor, face tilted up to the sky which was a kaleidoscope of colour through his cracked glasses and the ash and sparks from the pyre in front of him. It was then that he saw it. 

Hovering above the devastation, hanging in the air like an evil cloud, was a colossal skull, made of emerald green stars and a snake protruding from its mouth.

The Dark Mark.

*

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AN/ Also worth noting, I am going to repost the entire story - it's a year on since I wrote this and I thought I better get it updated in regards to my spelling, grammar and a few added scenes….Also, good publicity for the sequel to this one _Harry Potter and the Gathering Storm_


	2. Morsmordre

~*~*~ Chapter Three ~*~*~

Morsmordre

A scream ripped through the night, and continued for an eternity as the figure of the young boy sunk to his knees on the lawn of his home, staring at the Dark Mark.

'They're dead, they're dead' the boy whispered as he drew his arms around his body protecting from the heat, which was scorching his face.

Harry heard feet running people coming to help him, but he didn't move he stayed sitting staring at the Dark Mark. Hands grabbed the back of his nightshirt and pulled him away from the fire. Sirens started wailing and fireman started pumping water into the fire, and the flames started to die down. Harry looked up into the face of the person who had pulled him away from the scorching heat. It was Mrs Figg, she was staring down at Harry, fear and sadness was etched on her face. Suddenly Harry heard the swish of cloaks of Wizards that were apparating, completely ignored by the muggles. Harry saw Dumbledore through the smoke and he hurried over to Harry.

'Arabella, take Harry to your house, I'll sort this out' he said urgently.

Harry had the feeling of being pulled to his feet, and being pulled away from the heat of the fire even more, until the cold closed around him like a cloak. Exhaustion and shock set in and before his head even hit the pillow, Harry Potter was dreaming.

*

'The fires been put out, and the firemen's memories have been modified, they'll remember nothing of the Dark Mark. Now Harry that's a different matter' sighed a voice.

Harry was still lying on the bed in Mrs Figg's house on the edge of wakefulness, it took a time to register the voice as being that of Dumbledore. He opened his eyes and saw a group of shadows standing around him, and then he heard another voice.

'Dumbledore was it...him? Did he do this to them?' said the anxious voice.

'Yes Sirius, It was Voldemort, he killed Harry's aunt, uncle and cousin last night, before destroying the house and casting the Dark Mark'

'So there dead then' Harry asked. They all turned around in surprise, they hadn't realised Harry was awake yet.

'Oh Harry, I'm sorry' Sirius exclaimed, as he sat down next to Harry gripping his hand.

'It's ok Sirius' Harry mumbled 'They hated me after all' fighting back the tears.

'Harry' said Dumbledore's voice, 'The pain may seem strong now, but it will get better, and one day you will be able to overcome it, and use it. Voldemort will pay for every life he takes away from this world. Don't give up hope' he said with a fire in his eyes, Harry had never seen there before 'Now everyone please leave Harry alone for a while – I must go and send owls and notify people of what had happened, Harry would you like Sirius to stay with you?'

'Yeah' Harry said as the other witches and wizards got up and left, they were all wearing the Orders robes Harry noticed. Dumbledore swept out the room, and Sirius went and sat on the side of Harry's bed.

'Sirius' Harry said after what seemed an eternity.

'Yeah?' He replied

'Why do I feel like this? I hated the Dursleys, they made my life a misery for 11 years, and made my summers like living hell for the past 5 years. I always imagined what my life would be like with them gone. And I was always happy. But now there really gone, and I feel terrible for even thinking it' Harry said slowly as if trying to unravel the thoughts for himself first.

'Harry, I don't know, God knows I wanted to kill them myself when I read some of your letters to me about them. But I think the reason why you feel the pain is because they were still your family, and the was still a blood bond between you and them' Sirius tried to explain.

'Oh, right' Harry said, then he turned over and pulled the covers over his head. 

Sirius feeling the conversation had ended he got up and left, he wished he could tell Harry that it would all be alright in the end, but he didn't know if it would, What was going to happen to Harry now? He thought to himself, How much can one boy take?


	3. The Unexpected Gift

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~*~*~ Chapter Four ~*~*~

The Unexpected Gift

A hundred miles away at the moment Harry had discovered the ruin of his home, Ron had just arrived home, but he hadn't climbed into bed, but he'd crept down all the stairs, and went and sat down by the fire in a large chair. He huddled up into the corner of a sofa, arms round his knees. Why do things like this always happen to him? He knew Hermione was intelligent and that Harry was Brave, but him? He was good at chess, and that was it! How could he battle the forces of evil with only the use of a chessboard? Now he had to prove himself as a powerful and brave wizard, in front of a secret society. Sometimes he wished he had a normal life. He picked up his copy of "The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle", a least Martins adventures were fun and interesting. Harry, Hermione and Ron's usually ended up with him being knocked out, or having his leg broken, or his sister being kidnapped by an evil Lord. He had no idea what Dumbledore was talking about, Him – having extraordinary talents? And what was all that about a key? Ron sighed and drew the heavy blanket from the sofa up to his chin.

*

Hermione had been home for some time now, as soon as she had arrived home, she had gone to her small library of magical books hidden in the living room of her small semi-detached house. Apart from all the set-texts from school, Hermione had bought many others, for background reading. She had pulled a stack of likely looking books down from the shelves, and put them on the small kitchen table. She had been searching for over an hour and had found nothing on the order, maybe it really was a secret society. Not one book mentioned the Order of the Phoenix. In the end Hermione had even looked in _Fantastic Beasts and where to find them, _even though she had knew by heart what was written about phoenixes. Dispirited she put the books away, and climbed noiselessly up the stairs to her bedroom. It was very small and pink and her bed was positioned by the window. She climbed into bed and looked up into the moon, thinking about the tasks that lay ahead, and what Harry and Ron made of it all.

*

Ron was still sat in the chair, I was morning now and he was eating some toast thinking about nothing in particular, when the and knock at the front door. He was so surprised he sat their for a second, no-one ever came to their house the muggle-way, and he had a sneaking feeling that no muggles even knew where his house was, let alone where the front door. He got up and cautiously, checking before that no obvious magic was being used. In the doorway was a man dressed in a smart blue uniform.

'Good day sir' the man said in a pompous voice.

'Err...hello?' said Ron nervously.

'I'm here to deliver a package to Mr. Ronald Weasley' said the man in the same pompous voice.

'That's me' said Ron, wondering who would have been sending him a package by muggle mail.

'Don't worry son' he said chuckling at the look on Ron's face 'I'm with _Scription Wizarding Post Office, _I'm here to deliver a creature to you'

'But why did you have to come the muggle way?' Ron asked.

'Well the Department of Regulation of Magical Creatures says that no creature should be transported by floo powder, Apparation or on broomsticks. I had to bring it the muggle way' he said.

'Why?' asked Ron

'Oh too many accidents happen using Apparation, imagine being accidentally merged with the creature you were carrying! And some creatures have been known to explode when being transported using floo powder, so we have to bring them to you the muggle way' He said in a monotonous voice which told Ron that he had clearly been asked that question many times before.

'Just sign here...that's the ticket, now here's the letter that came with the creature. Thank you very much ' he said and handed Ron the small box with holes in the lid.

When Ron had said goodbye to the 'post-man' and walked into the kitchen and placed the box on the large scrubbed table, and opened the letter, it was from Hagrid.

__

Dear Ron

Hi how are you? I need to ask you a favour. In the box you should have is Cupio, I found him in some woods here in – where I am. He is a lovely creature, fiercely loyal and extremely loving. I am told it is a Taka, an extremely rare woodland creature. I'm not going to be back at Hogwarts until the middle of October. Now Cupio, he likes to eat sweets, I've heard Taka's have a need for sugar, so if you could just feed him on them he should be ok. He loves affection so make sure you stroke him and spend a bit of time with him.

I'm sorry to dump this on you, but where I'm going he would not be able to survive, he's quite young and has been abandoned by his parents. Please look after him for me, I trust you and knew straight away to leave him in your care.

See you in October, Thanks!

Hagrid

P.S. Could you give Harry this Birthday card and present for me? Have a nice holiday!

Ron laid down the letter and stared at the box, he felt a sense of pride that Hagrid could trust him with such an important task, and he also felt a sense on anticipation. Hagrid had a strange idea about creatures. What some people would call bloodthirsty monsters, Hagrid would call sweet, misunderstood animals. Ron vividly recalled the Blast-ended Skrewts from his last year at school.


	4. Revenge and Revelations

****

~*~*~ Chapter Five ~*~*~

Revenge and Revelations

Ron looked at the box with apprehension, he leant forward and began to peel the magical tape binding the box together. He held down the lid, and then slowly pulled them apart leaning backwards, flinching, expecting a piercing cry or the flash of talons. Instead all he heard was a low, calm sound, much like a snore, coming from the mass of cotton wool the box contained.

Not wanting to put his hand inside the box, he reached for a pair of salad tongs that was hanging on the wall above the sink. After taking a deep breath he plunged the tongs into the wool, and pulled it out. Ron let out the breath he hadn't realised he had been holding with a whoosh. This was for two reasons, firstly, the creature was asleep, and secondly he had never seen a creature so...so beautiful. 

Cupio was very small, about the length of a hand, and its long sleek fur was at first glance green, but when it caught the light it shimmered brown. Ron had seen something that resembled the Taka in a book somewhere. It looked remarkably like the Chinese costume of what muggles thought dragons looked like. It was the costume they used in festivals where three or four muggles stood beneath and became the legs, and danced. Its sleek fur reached to just a few centimetres where eight tiny furred feet were splayed about. It face was covered in the short green fur, which complemented its oversized brown eyelids. It had no nose but two nostrils and a wide smiling mouth, that stretched across its face. 

Ron reached out and stroked the hair of the Taka, it felt as smooth as silk, all traces of fear had now left Ron, and he placed his hands underneath Cupio and lifted him out of the box. The sound of its snoring grew quieter and it was replaced by a low purr – like a cat. It opened its large brown eyes and blinked a few times. Ron placed it on his knees and it started to trot around in circles, this creature was just too cool! Ron laughed as it started to chase its own tail. Finally it got tired lay down on his knee, and he stroked it until it fell back asleep. Ron thought, as he watch Cupio fall asleep that the for first time, and maybe the last, Hagrid was right about beasts, they were ok, when you really get down to it.

*

Ron had shown the letter to his family, and proudly showed off Cupio at the kitchen table that night at dinner. Everyone was just as delighted at Cupio than Ron was, and Ginny was absolutely transfixed by him. Cupio have taken an instant liking to Ginny, from the first moment he set eyes on her. He was performing tricks and doing stunts on the dinner table when Mr Weasley and Percy apparated. They had just got back from work at the ministry and were greeted by a large dinner, and seats in front of the fire. Mr Weasley howled at Cupio and even Percy managed a smile. He wasn't so obsessed with being like Mr Crouch, not since he found out that he had smuggled his son out of wizard prison, and controlled him using the Imperius Charm. He had taken the death of Mr Crouch hard nevertheless, and he had been promoted and now worked longer, more stressful days.

It was around the dinner table that night that the subject of conversation turned to Harry. Mrs Weasley had received an owl from Dumbledore this morning and Ron had noticed how she had been acting strange since she read it. Mrs Weasley looked sad and downcast, and Mr Weasley looked anxious, as if his worst fears had just been confirmed. Ron had been so wrapped up in Cupio he hadn't even remembered to ask what was written in the letter, but now it looked like they were going to tell him.

'We received an owl this morning' Mrs Weasley begun and sighed 'I'm afraid it contained some bad news, last night, after the meeting, when Harry returned home, he found that his home had been destroyed and his family, they were...they were...dead' Mrs Weasley finished.

Everyone around the dinner table sat in stunned silence, trying to take in the news, so they were gone at last? Ron thought.

'How?' Ron asked

'You-Know-Who, he left the Dark Mark there'

'And... And Harry?' Ginny asked.

'Harry's fine, has a few burns, it seems Arabella found him in front of the house last night to close to the flames, but Dumbledore says that after his burns have been looked after by Arabella, he may come and stay here with us, Dumbledore seems to think he will be safer here...in light of recent events' Mr Weasley told them.

So Harry's coming to stay with us for the rest of the summer? Ron thought to himself, if he was Harry he would be happy, he knew Harry hated the Dursleys, but Ron knew deep down that it would hurt Harry so bad if he lost his only surviving relatives. He's an orphan now Ron thought sadly as he climbed into bed. I wish Harry knew how much of a family we are to him, more than the Dursleys ever were.

*

It was 11.45 am that night, and Harry was lying in a small uncomfortable bed, in Mrs Figg's spare room. He was staring at the full moon in the sky, since that morning he had said a word to anyone, Sirius had been sitting with him for hours, but Harry had been pretending to be asleep, he didn't feel like talking. It was going to be his birthday soon, as much as he tried he couldn't look forward to becoming 15. He looked back at his life so far and it wasn't promising for the future.

When he looked back on his life he realised that everything that had happened to him was because of Voldemort. He had lost his parents, even the Dursleys in the end. It all came to Voldemort all the pain he had suffered from, that everyone had suffered from was because of him. Now Harry understood what Dumbledore had said to him before 'The pain may seem strong now, but it will get better, and one day you will be able to overcome it, and use it' Harry hadn't been able to understand what Dumbledore had meant by 'use it' but now he did. He felt a strong emotion inside him now – a need for revenge. Harry was going to get revenge for every life Voldemort had taken and he was going to make him pay.

Harry glanced over at his wristwatch on the table, 12:00, he stared out the window, wondering what this year would bring, deep down he knew the answer. Death.


	5. The Burrow and the Dream

****

~*~*~ Chapter Six ~*~*~

The Burrow and the Dream

Harry was walking down an empty street in a place he didn't recognise, around him were grand houses surrounded by trees that looked bare with their leaves swirling around their ankles. He stopped walking in front of one house and looked at the sign that was hanging on the small white gate, _Potter Hole, Godrics Hollow, _Harry pushed the gate open and ran into the garden. He was excited, he was about to see his parents again, and he walked around the garden he'd called out their names waiting for them to answer, searching for them. They've already gone Harry thought and walked on, he passed the Burrow on the way, but everyone had already left, then Lupin's home, Hermione's, and Dumbledore's. Everyone had already gone.

He got to the last gate and read the sign _Cemetery. _Harry pushed open the gates. And started to run up the steep path, he walked up over the crest of the hill and into a clearing. He looked around, it was dark now, he shivered he didn't want to be here anymore. He started to walk the way he came but saw a stone was blocking his Path, something was carved on it and as he looked closer he saw the words _Lily Potter, 1960-1981_. He turned around and tried the other path but there was another stone in the way, _James Potter, 1960-1981_. Stones blocked every path he tried, they were all carved. _Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Albus Dumbledore_. Everyone was there Harry spun round, running trying to find different path but they were all blocked. 

'So Harry, you've finally realised, took you long enough didn't it?' said a cold voice behind him.

Harry spun round and saw Voldemort standing tall and proud in front of him.

'Have you put the pieces together yet? The reason why so many people have died? Why these people here have died? Well I'll tell you Harry. It's you. You bring death and destruction to all who you know, and you know its all your fault, deep down – _Avada Kadava_'

Harry screamed and woke up, he was covered in sweat and was shaking uncontrollably.

'Harry, Harry, it's ok, ok' said Sirius soothingly, Harry's yell had awoken from his bedside position and comforted Harry, who was crying softly, until he fell into a deep sleep again.

*

The next morning Harry was subdued but a piece of news managed to raise his spirits. Dumbledore had brought him breakfast and handed him a piece of parchment. Harry looked at Dumbledore questioningly and read the letter.

To Dumbledore

We will be delighted to take Harry for the rest of the summer holiday, as you know Ron will be ecstatic to have Harry for the whole summer. We'll come and pick him up from Arabella's at 2 p.m.

Yours Faithfully

Molly Weasley

Harry laid the letter down and smiled, for the first time in a few days.

'So I'm allowed to go?' asked Harry unbelievably. 

'Of course you can Harry' said Dumbledore smiling, glad that Harry's mood seemed to be rising.

*

Mrs Weasley arrived at Arabella's at 2.15 p.m. and as soon as she saw Harry she pulled him into a tight hug,

'We'll always be there for you Harry, you know that don't you?' she whispered in his ear.

'Thanks Mrs Weasley, I know' Harry replied

10 minutes later Harry was travelling through the floo network to the Burrow. Harry stepped out the fireplace and saw Ron sitting waiting at the table with the strangest creature Harry had ever seen rolling around the table.

'Hey Harry' Ron said nervously, not knowing what to expect from Harry.

'Hi Ron, it's so good to see you. What that you've got there?' Harry asked curiously. 

'Oh this is Cupio, you'll never guess where I got him from…' and with that Ron launched into a long explanation about the Taka, and Hagrid's letter, and the post-man. So for a while Harry forgot all about his troubles and felt more alive than he had done for ages, with the two of them laughing and talking for what seemed an age

Half an hour later Mrs Weasley arrived carrying Harry's trunk, which looked worse for wear. All magical trunks are protected with a fireproof charm, but the lid of the trunk had been scorched and was still covered in soot, to be honest Harry hadn't even thought about his things since the fire. He supposed someone had salvaged it from the wreckage.

'Just had to have a quick word with Dumbledore, he says your to stay here with us for the rest of the summer, but your not allowed to leave the Burrow, unless its to Diagon Alley, ok?' She asked him

'Yeah that's fine' replied Harry who had no wish to leave the Burrow.

'Lovely' she said, and levitated the trunk and walked up to Ron's room at the top of the house.

'So what do you think of, the you know, thing?' Ron asked, clearly talking about the Order.

'I don't know, god knows I'd like to have at least one year where an evil murderer was stalking me, but I suppose in the, you know what, we'll be surrounded by people who could help us' Said Harry.

'Yeah but –' began Ron, when Ginny walked into the room.

'Hey Ron, Harry' she mumbled turning red. 'Fred and George wanted to know if you wanted to play a game of Quidditch?'

'Yeah sure, Harry?' asked Ron

'Yeah I'll just get my broom' he replied. Ginny darted downstairs, and Harry ran up to Ron's room, opened the trunk and found the Firebolt, happy to see it wasn't damaged, he slung it over his shoulder and made his way down the many flights of stairs.

'Hermione will be here tonight' said Ron, the frown on Ron's face told Harry he must of known about Hermione's short visit to Bulgaria this summer to see Krum.

*

After a long exhaustive game of Quidditch in the garden, they trudged into the kitchen for dinner. Ron had been playing keeper, and was sporting a bloody nose, caused by George over enthusiasm with an apple.

Hermione arrived in the evening, and they found a secluded bit of the living room to talk about the Order. Under the pretence of watching Ron teach Cupio some tricks, they discussed that nights events. 

'Nothing!' exclaimed Hermione 'I looked in every magical book I have and there was not one mention of the order, or anything like it!'

'Well maybe because it's a SECRET society, kept a SECRET for many hundreds of years, their hardly going to announce to the world that they are working against the forces of evil, or they would have been wiped out ages ago!' said Ron.

'Well all I know, is that Dumbledore is a main member, and that's all I need to know, I'd trust him over myself! And if he thinks were up to it, then we are' said Harry firmly.

This ended the conversation and they continued to play with Cupio until Mrs Weasley ushered them to bed with cups of hot chocolate.


	6. The Ghost Train

****

~*~*~ Chapter Seven ~*~*~

The Ghost Train

That next evening, July 30th, the subject turned to Harry's impending birthday.

'I've got some great news for everybody' said Mr Weasley, 'Old Gumbert Holyhead wanted to thank me for a spot of trouble I sorted out for him, a tell-vision with very strange powers, I smoothed it all over and he gave me nine tickets to Merlin's Magical Wonderland, since Bill and Charlie aren't here, we could give the tickets to Hermione and Harry and go together – sort of a Birthday treat for Harry.

'MERLIN'S MAGICAL WONDERLAND? Are you serious? Wow! I've always wanted to go!' said Fred and George in unison.

Mr and Mrs Weasley laughed as Fred, George, Ron and Ginny danced around the room, Percy even managed to be forced to do a small Irish jig by Fred and George.

Half an hour later everyone still had huge smiles plastered to their faces.

Ron punched the air – 'Yesssss!' he shouted as they walked upstairs to bed, Harry had the feeling the news hadn't actually sunk in yet. Ginny looked just as pleased and blushed to the very tips of her flaming red hair when Harry smiled back to her. Fred and George looked equally pleased, they had done a lot of studying this holiday, and there was a lot less arguments in the household. They were also up to their usual tricks, mysterious bangs and clouds of purple smoke were still seen and heard coming from their room, but Mrs Weasley didn't mind as much now she could see them working.

'I can't believe it!' Ron Mumbled as they climbed into bed, 'Merlin's Magical Wonderland, it's my dream come true!'

*

It was around two in the morning and Ron was awake, Cupio wouldn't go back to sleep, and needed to show Ron some new trick he had learned. Ron was stroking Cupio quietly when Harry suddenly started talking, Ron jumped he hadn't realised Harry was awake,

'Take it' Harry said groggily.

'Take what?' asked Ron.

'Look Cedric, you were here first, you take the cup' Harry replied.

Ron realised Harry was still asleep and that he was just talking in his sleep. Harry must be having a dream about the Triwizard tournament. Harry had not told much about that night and Ron had never asked, but now Ron listened as he relived that night.

'Both of us, We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it' Harry murmured, 'Where are we?' he asked again.

Ron wanted to wake Harry, he didn't want Harry to go through it all again, sometimes he just wished Harry had told him what had happened, and at least then Ron could imagine what Harry had been through.

Suddenly the hairs on Ron's arms stood on end, static filled the room and suddenly Ron's vision went black. Then patches of colour returned and so did Ron's vision, but this time he wasn't in his bedroom, but a dark and overgrown graveyard. He turned to his right and saw Cedric who suddenly said 'Someone's coming'. Then without warning Ron's forehead exploded with pain, and he slipped to the floor.

'Kill the spare' came a cold voice and a blinding flash of green light filled Ron's vision. He looked to the right of him, and Cedric was lying spread eagle on the floor, dead.

Ron realised he was watching what had happened the night of the third task, through the eyes of Harry. He saw everything, he saw Voldemort rise again, he saw the Death Eaters, and felt the pain of the Crucio curse, and Harry's duel with Voldemort. The moment his and Harry's hand touched the Triwizard cup, Ron awoke sweating and shaking, so did Harry.

He looked over at Ron, who was staring at Harry with a mixture of shock and terror, 

'What's wrong?' he asked. 

'Nothing' Ron replied and turned over in his bed.

Harry was soon asleep again, but Ron couldn't. He had just seen everything that had happened to Harry that night, he wished he had never asked to know what happened to him. He turned over and watched Harry sleeping. Ron didn't understand why everything had to happen to Harry, in four consecutive years someone had tried to kill him, how could he have lived through it and came through sane?

He felt sick with guilt. There he was the other night wishing he was more like Harry, moaning about how boring his life was, but he could be like Harry, with no parents, brothers or sisters, or any family, and with a arch enemy at the age of one

*

Harry woke up around nine in the morning. He couldn't even remember the dream he'd had that night, and woke Ron up so they could go and get breakfast together. He and Ron got changed, and Harry noticed that Ron was strangely quiet.

If Harry had looked a bit closer maybe he would have seen the black rings around Ron's eyes, but a Birthday display of Dr Filibusters wet-start, no-heat fireworks at the breakfast table pushed all thoughts out of his head. Fred and George were treating the family to an impressive display in their excitement for today's events. Harry and Hermione had never heard of Merlin's Magical Wonderland, but obviously it was something not to be missed, and by ten 'o' clock they were all stood around the fireplace ready to travel by Floo powder.

One sooty and very painful Floo ride later and the whole group was assembled around a huge pair of golden gates, with the words, 'Merlin's Magical Wonderland' twisted into the bars. A small Goblin took their tickets and showed them to their 'transportation'. Harry had never seen anything like it before, or maybe he had. It looked like a large boiled egg, floating and meter above the ground. They clambered in, sat down and it speeded forward, going so fast they were pushed back into their seats, their faces stretched by the force.

Suddenly Harry began to panic, he was being pushed further and further into the back of the seats that he was nearly completely hidden, further and further he went back until the seat closed in front of him. Suddenly he had the feeling he was falling and he opened his eyes just in time to see himself fall onto a huge mattress, on which he bounced up and down, until all the Weasley's and Hermione joined him. 

Eventually they began to slow down and they were laughing until their sides ached as they clambered off the giant bed and began to walk down the long golden cobbled street.

'That was exciting, eh lads?' said Mr Weasley as he mopped his head which was glistening with sweat.

They made their way down the street stopping to look at each ride, 'How about this one?' asked Harry, as they came to a stop in front of the 'Hall of the unexpected'.

Mr and Mrs Weasley stayed outside while the rest of them went in. In front of them was what looked like a huge flagged stone floor, as they started to walk across it, the slabs started to fall away, and they all started to run for their lives screaming as every stone they stepped on fell away beneath their feet. They made it to the other side of the room, panting for breath.

'That...was...awesome!' breathed Fred, and they all laughed together.

The next room had a sunken floor at least two meters below the doorway, they stepped over the edge and the world was suddenly reversed. They were standing on what used to be the ceiling looking downwards. They soon realised that they could walk upside down and started to run and playing tag, made all the more better by the fact that every few minutes gravity would reverse itself again.

After another 15 minutes of running most of which was being done by the Twins, who were acting like a pair of human bludgers, Harry was suddenly saw Fred and George running from each side at him, with intent to corner him. Harry was quick in realising and just before the twins reached him he jumped out the way and the twins smacked into each other. Everyone fell over with laughter, Fred and George laughing the most as two identical bruises started rising around their eyes, they quickly decided to go onto the next room.

As the troop walked into the next room their mouths dropped open. It was a replica of the World Cup Quidditch pitch from last summer. Suddenly they felt a ruffle, and sets of the Irish National team robes were placed over their clothes. The five Weasley's, Harry and Hermione stared around and saw 7 Firebolt's lined up against the base of the scoring hoops. Ron let out a whoop of excitement and ran over to his broom. Just then out flew what Harry supposed were holograms of the Bulgarian team. He glanced over to Ron and Hermione. Hermione's face lit up at the sight of Krum flying towards them, but Ron's happy face clouded over and was replaced by an angry scowl.

The team grabbed the brooms and took out their positions, Harry playing seeker, Ron playing Keeper, the twins playing beaters and Ginny, Hermione and Percy playing chasers. Then the referee blew the whistle and they were off. They flew backwards and forward, Fred and George never missing a bludger, and Ron making an excellent job as Keeper. In no time at all the score had reached 100 to Ireland and 70 to Bulgaria, after an impressive display of teamwork between Hermione and Ginny, who surprised everyone by being naturals as Chasers. The replica Krum had been trying to trick Harry into the Wronski Faint, but Harry had expected this and had been keeping up high, his eyes searching for the small golden snitch. Just then the referee blew his whistle because Ron had thrown a Quaffle he had just caught a Krum's head, for no reason that he would like Hermione to know.

Just then Harry saw the glint of gold and flutter of wings, and he raced towards the snitch, Krum saw this and followed, time seemed to be moving slower and slower, they were neck and neck when Harry reached out and closed his hand around the snitch. The referee blew the whistle, and the team soared to the floor and began their celebrations. To everyone's amazement leprechauns soared over the pitch, and the cap it all off, when the team was shaking hand with the opponents, Ron managed to get throw a good right hook into Krum's face, before they disappeared.

They came out of the Hall of the unexpected to meet Mr and Mrs Weasley who were sitting in a small café drinking tea. They all sat down and the Weasley's treated Harry and Hermione to a huge lunch. After they had finished they decided to visit 'The Ghost Train', Harry thought this sounded very interested, he knew muggle ghost trains weren't usually scary, but the ones in the magical world had to be better.

They boarded into carriages Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny in the first and Fred, George and Percy in the second. The carriages floated into the long chamber screams and screeches started coming from hidden shadowy corners, and then to Harry's shock a dementor appeared at the end of the chamber, fear gripped Harry's heart and he reach for his wand, before long though he realised it was just a boggart. He managed to grimace in the face of his fear, and even managed to laugh when it tried to scare him and Ron at the same time by becoming a dementor with long hairy legs. They laughed even harder when it tried to scare Hermione as well, becoming a dementor with the head of McGonagall. They giggled so much that the boggart exploded in thousands of tiny wisps of smoke.

Then they rounded a corner and saw a long black empty corridor. The carriages hovered down it silently, the four found they lack of phantoms disconcerting. They got half way down when a shriek and a flash of silver emerged from the roof and flew at them. They shouted and then burst out laughing when they realised what or rather who is was. It was in fact a ghost and not just any ghost,

'Nearly Headless Nick?' They gasped in unison.

'Oh my' Groaned Nick as he realised that not only were the people on the ride not scared, but also they were shrieking with laughter. He groaned even deeper when he realised it was Harry Potter and his friends.

'What are you doing here Nick? I thought ghosts were only allowed to haunt one place?' Hermione asked.

'Well...I...um...well Dumbledore got the ministry to give me special permission' he stammered, blushing, if it were possible, 'It gets quite lonely in the summer at the castle, and I like being around children, and since the headless hunt wouldn't accept me I chose this' he added bitterly. 

'Please don't tell anyone at the castle, I'll be made a laughing stock!' he said desperately.

'Su – Sure!' Hermione gasped, holding her sides, 'Won't we guys?' she added

The boys nodded, not trusting themselves to speak.

The were laughing for the rest of the ride, and paid no attention to the wide range of monsters, jumping from every other shadowy hole or door, and the owner of the ride look quite shocked when he saw the children stumbling out, shrieking with laughter.


	7. The Class of 1978

****

~*~*~ Chapter Eight ~*~*~

The Class of 1978

It had been the best birthday of Harry's life, they spent the day walking round stopping now and then to go on fast rides, or to buy food from the hundreds of brightly coloured stalls that lay in the amusement park grounds. By the evening they were all getting tired, and their sides were aching from the laughter. Fred and George had looked like Christmas had come early when there carriage had come out, and were still walking round with dreamy looks on their faces, imagining the ways in which they could use this new information about Nearly Headless Nick.

All too soon they were being ushered out by a small dwarf, 'Were closed! You should have been out hours ago!' he squeaked – with a voice to rival Professor Flitwick.

So it was with a heavy heart that evryone walked out the huge pair of golden gates and towards the public floo fireplace. One by one the Weasley's and Hermione disappeared into the flames until only Harry and Mr Weasley were left. With one last look at the rides and shops, Harry threw a handful of the floo powder into the large black fireplace 'The Burrow!' he shouted and stepped into the fire.

One rough and painful journey later, Harry stumbled into the kitchen and was greeted by a shower of golden stars. It seemed Fred and George had let of another batch of Dr Filibusters fireworks, when the stars cleared from Harry's vision slightly, he saw that the huge scrubbed wooden table in the Weasley's kitchen was groaning under the weight of all the plates placed on them. In the centre of the table stood a blue birthday cake with '15 Today' iced on top, on the birthday cake was a painting on Harry flying on his broom, which was darting backwards and forwards on a miniature Firebolt.

Harry couldn't speak, and the Weasley's and Hermione began to sing him Happy birthday, he blew out his candles, stammered his thanks and they all tucked in to the huge meal Mrs Weasley had created while Harry was in the Floo network. Apparently they had all planned it so that they could do it before Harry arrived. At the end of the meal everyone was so full they could hardly move and Ron surprised Harry one last time. Presents from Hagrid and Sirius had arrived while they were at the park, and he opened them expectantly. 

Hagrid had sent Harry a small leather bound book on dragons, probably Hagrid's idea of a joke after his last year at Hogwarts, remembering the look on Hagrid's face when he had saw the dragons in the enclosure at Hogwarts. Sirius's present was heavy and he pulled off the paper. Two things fell out of the package. Two large leather bound books fell onto his lap. They were identical, except for the first had the words Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry Yearbook, class of 1978, James Potter. The second read the same, except Lily Evans was in the place of his father's name. He opened his mother's yearbook, and flipped through its pages. Each page held a picture of a different witch or wizard, and they all had paragraphs of writing under them. The Gryffindor's magical photos were on a red background, the Slytherin's green, Hufflepuff's yellow, and Ravenclaw was blue. Harry was surprised to see that most of his mothers seventh year pictures had been signed, even some of the Slytherin's, as well as all the teachers photos on the back page. Harry picked up the letter from Sirius. 

__

To Harry

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, I hope you like your presents, Your mom and Dad left these with Remus a few years ago, and we just found them in the attic. We thought you'd like to look through them. I hope you have a good birthday, and I'll see you soon.

From Sirius

Harry looked up, and suddenly realised the whole table was looking down at him, 

'Oh! Sorry, I forgot you were there for a second!' He laughed.

'What did Sirius give you Harry?' asked Ron.

'Its my mom and dads Yearbooks from when they left Hogwarts, Look he said flicking through his dads, Here's Sirius!' he said pausing at a page. It was a good job that the yearbook was in alphabetical order, because Harry wouldn't have recognised the smiling boy with untidy black hair and eyes in the photo as that of Sirius. The Sirius in the photo was laughing at something, and kept crossing his eyes and poking his tongue out at Harry. Harry laughed and was about to read the paragraph of untidy scrawl underneath when Mrs Weasley proclaimed it was time for bed. 

Gathering up his presents Harry and Ron walked up the stairs to bed, Saying goodnight to Hermione and Ginny at their room, then Fred and George and Finally Percy. Harry and Ron clambered into bed, 

'That's a great present from Sirius, Harry!' yawned Ron.

'Yeah, Goodnight Ron' replied Harry.

'Goodnight Harry, Cupio' Ron said as the lights went out.

*

The summer passed by quickly, and no news reached them at the Burrow of Voldemort or his Death Eaters. The Daily Prophet reported nothing unusual or out of the ordinary. One morning the family were sat around the breakfast table when the Daily Prophet arrived. Mrs Weasley paid the owl, placed the paper on the table and continued to eat her breakfast. _'Werewolves to work for the ministry'_ was the headline splashed across the front, with a picture of Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic underneath looking nervous as he twirled his bowler hat in his hands.

'Can I read that?' asked Harry.

'Sure, here you go Harry' said Mrs Weasley, handing Harry the paper.

__

'Cornelius Fudge, The Minister of Magic, announced today that he is to allow werewolves to work for the ministry. He has faced increased pressure for this move all summer, as protests were made when an abley qualiffied Auror was fired when his condition was discovered earlier this summer. Now Witches or Wizards sufferng from lycanthropy, will have the same rights as any other person. The minister gave this statement to our reporter earlier today…'

Harry laid down the paper and grinned, it was about time people realised that werewolves were just the same as any other person, apart from at the full moon. Harry hope Lupin had read today's paper, Sirius had once told Harry that Lupin apllied to become a Auror when he had left Hogwarts, but was rufused because he was a werewolf. Hopefully Lupin could get a job now, he wasn't sure what he had been doing since he left his Defence against Dark Arts post in his third year.

He grinned and handed Ron and Hermione the article, he was about to put the paper down when a small article with a colour photo caught his eye. It was of a well dressed family standing outside of a large house, but it wasn't the picture that caught his eye more the title of the artice. 'Firelight's return to Godric's Hollow'. He stared at the photo intently, he had never seen the village his parents had lived in, all he could make out around the house was a lot of tree's with their golden leaves swiling around the ankles of the family. There were three people in the photo, a tall man with short black hair and brown eyes, and a shorter woman also with black hair and brown eyes.They each had a hand on their daughters shoulder, who looked around Harry's age, who had long black hair, pale skin and large black eyes.

__

One of the oldest Wizarding familys the Firelight's are planning to return to their ancestrial home in Godrics Hollow. Charles and Mary Firelight are set to return to Godrics Hollow after their 14 year travelling trip around the world. Many of you may remember the Firelight's defeat of 12 Death Eaters which had surrouded their house back in 1981, for which the minister of Magic gave them Order of Merlin, First Class. Their daughter Catalina Firelight, born in 1980, is the heir to the Firelight mansion and name, being the Firelight's only child. 

The Firelight's packed their bags and left England only a day after being attacked for a second time by Death Eaters on their daughters first birthday in 1981, only to make this surprise announcement last night. The family mansion 'Firelight Heights' in Godrics Hollow has remained boarded up since 1981, and renovation work is being performed. The Firelight's are expected to take up jobs in the ministry, and their daughter is expected to take up her position at Hogwarts which has been reserved since their departure 14 years ago.

Harry stared at the picture again, she'd be in the 5th year at Hogwarts, that meant that she would be in his year, he frowned at the picture one more time and continued reading the paper. Harry had a funny feeling about that family, but he wasn't sure what it was. Nothing else of importance stood out, but Harry did register the fact that Rita Skeeter didn't have any articles today. Harry passed the rest of the paper to Ron and Hermione, Ron completely missed the article about the Firelight's, but Harry watched Hermiones face closely as she read it. Her eyes went wide as she read the headline, and he mouth dropped open as she read the article. Harry looked away just in time. Hermione glanced up at Harry, gulped as if she wasn't sure about something, she opened her mouth but seemed to think about it for a second and she closed her mouth. Harry was right, there was something about that family, he could tell from Hermiones expression it wasn't just about the fact they lived in Godric's Hollow. He would have to watch out for that family in the future. 

*

At around 3 am Ron was still wide awake, ever since he had been in Harrys dream he had been confused, he didn't know how it had happened. He had been sitting in bed and Harry had been having that nightmare, and he had just wished he knew what had happened to Harry, and then he'd been in his dream. He had thought long and hard about it and had decided not to tell Harry what had happened. He didn't think Harry would like the fact that he had been in his dream. 

Ron was stroking Cupio absent mindedly thinking about The Order, Harrys dream, and Voldemort, when Harry moaned and turned over in his sleep. Ron panicked, what if Harry was having that dream again? He wished he knew what Harry was dreaming, he wasn't sure whether to wake Harry or not, it wasn't fair that Harry had to relieve the worst momnets of his life every night when he went to sleep. 

Suddenly the hairs on Ron's arms stood on end, static filled the room and suddenly Ron's vision went black. Then patches of colour returned and so did Ron's vision, but this time he wasn't in his bedroom, he was in a small well kept garden in front of a huge mansion. A signpost Hanging up told him that it was _Firelight Heights, Godric's Hollow_. He looked up and saw a girl his age standing in front of him, she had long black hair and pale skin, 

'Hello Harry' she said softly, 

'Oh I'm not Harry, I'm Ron' is what Ron meant to say, 'Hello Catalina' came the voice from Ron's mouth.

'So you've come back at last? I missed you Harry, we haven't seen each other for so long' came the soft voice again.

'Why are you back?' Ron/Harry asked cautiously.

'Were coming back for the fight against the dark, we are the light Harry' she said mysteriously.

The mysterious girl cautiously looked behind her back, whilst Ron desperately tried to place her accent, it was a weird mixture and sounded as if it was used to speaking in a different language, although it had a definite American twang to it.

'My parents are coming back in a moment, they wont like to see you here, you better go' she said hastily.

Ron turned around and started running. He looked back and saw Catalina's parents stand behind her and place a hand on each shoulder. They shook their fists at Ron, and Ron turned around to continue running. As he turned round he saw a tree appear from nowhere, but couldn't move as fast. He ran straight into the tree and woke up suddenly. At the same time Harry woke up, he glanced over to Ron, 

'What's wrong?' he asked Ron grinning, Ron looked like he'd seen a ghost.

'Nothing, just got a bit of a headache' Ron said hastily 'You were making a load of noise, what were you dreaming about?' Ron asked.

'Can't remember now' said Harry truthfully.


	8. Dress Robes and Dessert

****

~*~*~ Chapter Nine ~*~*~

Dress Robes and Dessert

Everyone was sitting round the breakfast table and it was only one week until they would go back to Hogwarts for their 5th year and they had heard nothing of the Order. Harry didn't seem to remember anything of his dream, but Ron did, and made it his mission to find out who 'Catalina' was, and how Harry knew her. Ron had never seen them before, but apparently they lived in Godric's Hollow, he was sure that's were Harry's Parents lived. Before Ron could get any thoughts together, the post arrived, and everyone except Percy received their Hogwarts letters.

Harry ripped his open happily, remembering back to the first time that he had read this letter.

__

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)

Dear Mr Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that term begins of the 1st of September, enclosed is your ticket to platform 9 ¾, and list of equipment and books needed for the new school year. 

Pupils must know that Dress robes will be needed for the annual Yule ball that will be held on December 24th.

Yours sincerely

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress.

Harry riffled through the assorted pieces of paper that fell out of the envelope before looking up. Hermione was positively beaming and Harry could see something that looked suspiciously like a badge in her hand.

'I've been made a prefect, there must be some mistake' said Hermione in a shocked voice, but Harry noted she was looking impossibly excited.

'Congratulations Hermione, it was never in doubt really was it?' said Harry warmly 'Hey! You get to use the prefects bathroom, you have to see the bath, its like a swimming pool!'

Hermione merely nodded as her eyes glazed over with a faraway look, most probably she was thinking of all the new responsibility this she would have. Ron caught Harry's eye and rolled his eyes. Personally Harry was delighted for Hermione, but happier he didn't receive a badge.

'What books do we need this year?' asked Hermione as she snapped out of her reverie.

'Well lets see…' Said Harry scanning down the list.

'_The standard book of spells (Grade 5) by Miranda Goshawk,_

The Extended History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot,

Advanced Transfiguration by Emeric Switch,

1001 Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Malorus,

One Thousand Magical Herb and Fungi by Phylias Spore

Omens and prophecies by Cartomacy Felix

Fantastic Beasts and where to find them 53rd edition by Newt Schmander

Advanced Defence against dark arts by Quentin Trimble'

'That sounds like an expensive set of books' said Ron worriedly.

'We better plan a trip to Diagon Alley we need to get new dress robes as well, another Yule Ball it looks like' Said Harry.

'Oh No!' moaned Ron, 'Not again! - Today just gets better and better'

*

It was a bright sunny day as Ron, Harry and Hermione walked down Diagon alley. They stopped off a Gringotts first and Harry got some money from his vault, and Hermione exchanged her muggle money for Galleons, Sickles and Knuts. Then they walked into Madame Malkin's to get their dress robes. Fred and George had given Ron a handful of coins to buy himself some new robes. When Ron quizzed them on the money, they told him after the shame of the last Yule ball they had started a collection tin to buy him new robes, after giving Harry a conspiratorial wink. Ron was happy he was getting new robes, but didn't like the thought of being a charity case.

It was cool inside Madame Malkin's and they walked over to the dress robes section. Soon Ron had chosen a dark navy blue set of robes, and Hermione had chosen a lilac set. Harry couldn't find a pair that he liked, and Ron complained so much he promised he'd come back later to pick out a pair. They went to on to Flourish and Blotts and got their schoolbooks, and re-filled their potions ingredients in the apothecary. Harry treated the others to ice cream at Florean Fortescue. Harry ate his quickly and told the others he'd go and get his Dress Robes while they finished eating.

Harry walked into Madame Malkin's again, and went over to the Dress Robes rack. He looked through all the robes and decided to get a bottle green one, the same as his robes last year, he was never any good a shopping. Harry turned round to take his robes to the counter when he heard an unwelcome voice.

'So, what house are you going to be in?' came the drawling voice from behind the curtain.

'I don't really care now if you'll excuse me…' said a soft yet impatient voice.

'You've got to be in Slytherin, It's the house for the most powerful Witches and Wizards-which we all know you are' pressed Draco Malfoy.

'I don't know about that' came the familiar girl's voice again, she sounded like she wasn't enjoying talking to Malfoy.

__

'Lets go and get an Ice cream and you can tell me about your family' persisted Draco.

'No thanks, I need to get my robes' said the girl's voice.

'No come on' He said getting angry with the girl.

'Malfoy, why don't you just leave her alone, she obviously doesn't want to go with you' Harry said angrily, as he stepped from behind the curtain.

'Who asked _you?' _Malfoy hissed angrily at Harry.

'No he's right, I don't want to go with you, slimeball!' said the girl sweetly to Malfoy.

Small pink patches appeared on Malfoy's cheeks, but he didn't say anything, he just turned on his heal and stalked out of the shop, shooting evil looks at Harry. 

Harry and the girl laughed when Malfoy, so intent on glaring at Harry, walked into the door of the shop.

'Thanks for that I thought I'd never get away from him -' she said turning round for the first time, but when she saw Harry she stopped. She seemed to recover so quickly Harry wasn't even sure she faltered

'Hi I'm Harry Potter' said Harry, holding out his hand, he doubted that she didn't know who he was, everyone else seemed to know, but he was trying to be polite.

'So I noticed' she said looking at his scar, before quickly adding, 'Catalina Firelight'

This time it was Harry's turn to do a double take. So this as the famous Catalina Firelight, the girl whose family deserved a double spread of a newspaper. She looked slightly unreal, her skin was as white as china in sharp contrast to her black eyes and hair. Harry also noticed her voice at the same time, lilting on certain words with an almost foreign accent some of the time. He quickly became aware that he was staring.

'Well its nice to meet you Catalina, I er, have to go and buy my dress robes, my friends will be waiting for me.' said Harry after an uncomfortable silence.

'Yeah, I'm just gonna buy my robes for Hogwarts' she said staring at Harry strangely.

'Hey after that you can come and meet my friends if you like' Harry asked.

'Erm...sure' she said after a while.

*

Ron and Hermione were sitting in the sun outside the Ice Cream Parlour, they had long finished their ice creams and were talking and waiting for Harry. Hermione seemed to want to tell Ron something, but was taking a long time to get round to it.

'Hermione, what do you want to tell me? You've been chewing your nails for the last 10 minutes' said Ron after a while.

Hermione gave Ron a shocked look, and pulled her hands tightly into her lap, proabably to hide the evidence. She looked as if she was going to deny Ron accusation, but decided she couldn't contain herself any longer.

'Well, Ron I was watching Harry read the paper the other day, and he spent about ten minutes reading this one article about the Firelight Family, and how their going to move back to Godric's Hollow, where Harry used to live. Anyway, the Firelight's they had a daughter, called Catalina, and she's a -' Hermione began.

But what the Firelight's daughter was Ron never found out, because at that moment a shadow fell on their table.

The pair looked up and their mouths dropped open, Harry standing in front of them with a girl with pale skin and long black hair.

'Hey guys, sorry I took so long, I've got my robes at last!' he said holding up his bag as proof grinning at his friends.

'Hi I'm Catalina' said the girl extending her hand to Ron then Hermione.

Harry paid close attention to his friend's reactions to Catalina. Ron stared open mouthed at the girl, and whispered back his name to her. Hermione managed to smile at the girl and introduce herself.

'Well guys, it was nice to meet you and all but I've got to go, my parents are waiting for me' she said nervously as if she was scared of being seen with them, with a small wave she was gone.

Harry looked at his friends, smiling at their faces.

'What's the matter guys, you look like you've seen a ghost' asked Harry?

Little did Harry know that both of his friends had seen Catalina before, and knew a lot more about her than he did.


	9. Magus and Magic

****

~*~*~ Chapter Ten ~*~*~

Magus and Magic

It was the last night of the summer term, and Ron, Harry and Hermione were just finishing dessert. Hermione and Ron had both been subdued since their meeting with Catalina. But soon the subject of conversation turned to Catalina.

'She was being pestered by Malfoy when I saw her, you should have seen Malfoy's face when she told him he was a slimeball...and then walked into the door...priceless!' said Harry laughing at the memory.

'Harry have you ever met Catalina before?' asked Ron out of the blue.

'No, not since that day at Diagon Alley, why?' asked Harry, startled by Ron's odd question.

'No reason really, it's just you seem to know her already, just the way you look at her, if you know what I mean?' said Ron recalling his and Harry's dream.

Harry looked curiously at Ron, then to Hermione who was chewing her nails. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again. 

'What is it Hermione, I saw you read that article in the newspaper after me, you were going to say something about the Firelight's then but didn't, What is it?' asked Harry staring at Hermione.

'What article?' asked Ron, bewildered. Harry handed him the newspaper that was still on the table, which he quickly read, open-mouthed.

'Well Harry, I don't know if you anything about the Firelight's?' she asked Harry, who shook his head.

'Well they are a very old wizarding family, they can trace their ancestry back to the Gryfinndor's and further still.' said Hermione fearfully.

'So? What's got you two so worked up about her? You're an old wizarding family' Harry said pointing to Ron.

'Well,' said Ron 'Did you also know that the Firelight's are also so powerful that it is rumoured they can do magic without wands?'

'Without wands...is that even possible?' asked Harry in disbelief.

'And do you know what that makes her?' added Hermione continued 'That makes her a Magus, a very powerful witch, are they are usually associated with the Dark Side'

Harry gaped open mouthed for a few seconds – dark side? He got the impression that Catalina was a slightly nervous person, but not in any was evil or dark. He frowned slightly, feeling for some inexplicable reason that he should stick up for her.

'Just because that's associated with the dark side doesn't mean that Catalina works for Voldemort, if that's what you mean' said Harry angrily 'I'm a parselmouth, do you think I'm on the Dark Side?'

'No Harry, of course we don't think you're with the Dark Side' said Ron nervously not liking where this conversation was going.

'Well then I wouldn't believe she's with the dark side either, you don't even know her!' Said Harry, standing up, 'I'm going to bed'

Harry strode upstairs to bed, leaving Hermione and Ron.

'Well he didn't take that very well did he? Why is he sticking up for that girl? He doesn't know her either!' said Hermione staring after Harry.

'I have a feeling he does' said Ron remembering that dream again.

'How do you know?' asked Hermione curiously.

'He had a dream about her one night' said Ron 'I heard him talking in his sleep' he added seeing Hermione's expression. 'He knew her name and asked her why she was back, it was really strange, but when he woke up he couldn't remember the dream' said Ron thoughtfully.

'Well, we wont find anything out now, lets ask him when he's in a better mood' said Hermione.

*

It was the 1st of September and the Weasley house was in total uproar. Trunks lay everywhere in the house, books still in piles in bedrooms, and clothes that needed to be washed that hadn't, and animals of varying sizes were running, flapping or padding through the rooms. Breakfast was hurried and goodbyes were shouted to Percy and Mr Weasley who had to leave for work early. 

Mrs Weasley ordered three muggle taxis to take them to Kingsroad station for 9 'o'clock when the train to Hogwarts would leave. Finally the animals were gathered and everyone was packed into the taxis. All went well and Harry was acting his usual self, it seemed all thoughts of last nights argument was driven out of his head.

They reached Kingsroad station with 20 minutes to spare, and they managed to get through the barrier and onto the platform in record time. Everyone put their trunks into the compartment and said goodbye to Mrs Weasley who dished out sandwiches, kisses and hugs to everyone.

Harry, Ron and Hermione grabbed an empty carriage, but it was soon filling with their school friends, Neville and Ginny stayed with them and Dean and Seamus visited them briefly. Seamus was proudly showing off the prefects badge, much to the annoyance to Dean who seemed to find it a bit of a touchy subject. Harry thought this was quite amusing as Dean or Seamus didn't strike him as the academic kind who'd worry about being prefect. However Harry soon found out the reason why when Seamus whispered discreetly in his ear.

'His dad said he'd give him a Westham shirt if he made prefect'

About halfway through the journey Hermione and Ron were playing exploding snap and Harry was reading one of Hermione's huge books, _Kurds Peerage, a guide to the most powerful families of the wizarding world_. Ron and Hermione knew exactly what Harry was looking up, but decided not to say anything. Harry heard the door of the compartment open, but didn't look up, he was still searching for the page he wanted. The cards Hermione and Ron were playing with exploded, and he heard Hermione and Ron gasp at the person who had just walked in.

'I'm on page 356, if you wanted to know, but the picture doesn't really do me justice' Catalina said grimly.

'I wasn't looking for that at all' said Harry blushing shoving the book out of sight.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Harry decided to take the initiative. He knew Catalina was good, he just knew and he'd make the others see it.

'So Catalina, where have you been going to school all this time?' asked Harry.

'Oh everywhere, I've been in a different school, in a different country every year. I spent my first year in China's Hung Yin academy, my second in Russia's Red Square Palace, My third year in America's Salem academy, and my fourth year Africa's Zulu witchcraft school. I tell you, I really get tired of all those new schools, passwords, teachers and friends it'll be nice to settle down in one country for a while' said Catalina her accent a strange mix of all the different countries she had been to.

'Wow! All those different schools? What were they like?' asked Hermione making the effort for Harry's sake.

Before long Hermione and Catalina were in deep conversation and Harry and Ron started to play exploding snap themselves but Harry could tell from the looks Ron was throwing Catalina that he still didn't trust her, and the glances at Harry every now and again that something was on his mind. Their peace was shattered when Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle pushed their way into their carriage.

'So Catalina, I would have thought a witch of your...lineage...would know better than to hang around with mudbloods like that' Malfoy spat looking at Hermione with distaste.

'Really Malfoy, haven't you come up with anything better than that? You've had all summer to come up with insults for us while your all on your own in your mansion' said Hermione laughing off the insult.

'I wasn't talking to you, mudblood. I was talking to Catalina. Here's your last chance, you wouldn't want me as your enemy' hissed Malfoy, eyes glinting dangerously.

Harry remembered vividly when Malfoy had directed nearly the exact same insult, word for word, towards him on the first train ride to Hogwarts. He glanced nervously at Catalina to see how she'd handle it.

'Well Draco, I think I'll stay right where I am, and I warn you not to cross my path either, you wouldn't want me as your enemy either' Catalina whispered, eyes flashing.

'Well, I would have thought you would have more sense that to associate yourself with him' Draco hissed nodding his head towards Harry 'Not after your past history' he added.

'You better watch out for this one Potter, Her family and her –' started Malfoy staring at Catalina for the reaction his words would get.

'Get...Out!' Catalina hissed, for a moment she looked completely wild, her eyes glowed red and static leapt between the ends of her fingers.

Ron and Hermione must have missed this because they were staring intently at Malfoy.

'Fine, your loss' said Malfoy simply as he turned on his heal and stalked out.

'Thank god he's out of here, don't you think Harry?' asked Hermione.

Harry nodded slowly still staring at Catalina hands, maybe he had just imagined it.

'Another game Harry?' asked Ron holding up the cards.

'Sure' said Harry shuffling away from Catalina.


	10. The Sorting

****

~*~*~ Chapter Eleven ~*~*~

The Sorting

The rest of the train journey passed without event, Catalina had won over Ron and Hermione during the journey. The way Catalina had stood up for herself against Malfoy had proved Catalina to Ron, and she and Hermione had spent the whole journey talking about everything about Catalina previous schools.

Only Harry was strangeley subdued during the journey, Ron didn't know what was wrong with Harry, one minute he was defending Catalina against them, and the next he couldn't sit far enough away from her. He looked thoughtfull and Ron had noticed a strange look in Harry's eyes ever since Malfoy had left the carriage, he couldn't really describe it, was it fear? Or something else, Ron didn't know. He made a mental note to ask Harry later on.

They found an empty carriage and piled in, Ron sat next to Hermione on one side, and Harry who got in last, was forced to sit next to Catalina, which he didn't look happy about. Soon however Catalina's first sight of the castle drove all thoughts out of Harrys head. She had a look of awe on her face as they passed through gates, flanked with statues of winged boars, and she couldn't take her eyes off the giant towers.

Harry grinned at the look on her face, she was like a kid in a sweet shop, and Harry knew how she was feeling – like she didn't have enough eyes to take it all in. Soon they arrived at the huge stone steps that led up to the oak doors and Harry climbed them with a grin on his face – they were back.

'Miss Firelight?' came a severe voice from the entrance hall.

The four spun round and saw Snape looming over them, staring at Catalina with a sour look on his face, and when he saw Harry standing next to her, it was quickly replaced by a strange look, a mixture of dismay and confusion.

'You have to come with me, you need to be sorted with the rest of the first years' he said after a pause.

'Sure' said Catalina nervously, and after casting a longing look and a small wave back to the trio, she walked off with Snape, following his billowing black cloak.

'I wonder if she's going to be in Gryfinddor?' asked Ron thoughtfully.

'I think she will' said Hermione hopefully, 'You were right about her Harry, shes a really loveley person'

'Yeah' said Harry, but this time there was no mistaking it, Ron and Hermione saw the look on Harry's face, he clearly didn't hope she was going to be in Gryfinddor.

*

The great hall was packed with students, most of them sitting at the long house tables, but a small crowd of them were standing nervously in the centre of the hall under the dark, star filled bewitched ceiling of the Great Hall. Harry, Hermione and Ron sat at their regular seats at Gryfinddor table and waited for the sorting to start.

Harry looked up to the Staff Table and noticed that Hagrids seat still stood empty, and then remembered that Hagrid wouldn't be back until October. He wondered who they would have to be gamekeeper and Care of Magical Teacher until he got back. He also noticed that Mrs Figg, or Professor Figg, hadn't arrived yet, neither had Dumbledore. He looked over to the pale faces of the small first-years remembering his own sorting and how nervous he'd been then. One face stood out from the rest, Catalina's confident pale face showed no trace of fear, which Harry found strange until Hermione spoke.

'I suppose she wouldn't be nervous about being sorted, not after going through it at four different ceremonies already' commented Hermione seeing the look on Catalina's face. 

Before Harry or Ron could answer, Professor McGonagall stepped forward, and placed a three-legged stool on the ground before the first years and, on top of it, an extremely old and patched Wizards hat.

At that moment Dumbledore strode in with Professor Figg, and they walked past the house tables and settled at the Staff Table, he smiled around everyone,

'Sorry about that everyone, please continue' he said warmly.

Everyone reverted their gaze back to the hat, who sat still for a moment before a tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and that broke into song.

Harry amused himself by watching Fred and George, who had created a dance routine to the Sorting Hats song, one long steady stare from McGonagall silenced them, and they allowed the sorting hat to finish.The Great Hall rang with applause and the hat did a sort of half-hearted bow before Professor McGonagall started to read the names of her parchment, soon green faced first years were sitting down on the stool, and trying on the hat tentatively.

'Brennan, Lucy!' she shouted

HUFFLEPUFF!

'Herdson, Geraldine!'

GRYFINDDOR

'Warren, Richard!'

RAVENCLAW

One after another, the first years stumbled up to the hat looking sick, and every one of them looked throughly relieved when they walked over to their cheering tables. Soon they list of first years reached 'W' and everyone was starting to get hungry. The sorting ended and Catalina was left standing in the middle of the hall, she looked slightly confused as to why she hadn't been sorted. She hopped uncomfortably from foot to foot with her arms crossed protectively over her chest, aware of the whispering and stares. 

Harry felt a rush of sympathy towards Catalina, he knew exactly how she felt, bpeople staring at him, whispering behind his back talking about his family. Presently Dumbledore got up and derailed Harry's train of though, he smiled around the Hall until his eyes finally rested on the nervous looking Catalina. 

'Students and teachers welcome to another year at Hogwarts, before the feast starts there is one more student left to be sorted. Catalina Firelight is a new student at the school, and she has to be sorted in to her house, so Miss Firelight would you please step up to the hat?' said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling.

All eyes in the hall were on Catalina, as she strode up to the hall and sat down at the stool. Professor held the hat to her head, and before it had even fell over his eyes, and Harry felt himself wondering which house he wanted Catalina to be in. He had barley a second for his thoughts because the hat screamed GRYFINDDOR! Harry had expected as much, if she was decended from Gryfinddor, it made sense that she would be in his house. Despite his doubts over Catalina he couldn't help cheering along with the rest of the Gryfinddors as Catalina strolled over and sat next to Hermione.

'Congratulations' said Hermione enthusiastically to Catalina.

'Yeah, your going to love Gryfinddor tower!' said Ron, smiling at Catalina.

Suddenly the food appeared on the tables, and everyone suddenly realising how hungry they actually were, stopped talking and tucked into their dinner.

*

Hermione went ahead to lead the first years to the tower with Seamus and Harry, Ron and Catalina follwed towards the rear of the crowd. Ron was talking excitedly with Catalina, pointing out corridors, secret passages and classrooms and Harry was shuffling behind silently. Catalina didn't seem to notice as she walked through the corridors with her mouth slightly open, staring at everything hungrily, looking desperate to learn everything about what Harry supposed was her ancestral home. Soon they were outside the Gryfinddor tower and the gathering group craned their necks to hear the new Gryffindor password.

'_Fortitudo'_ said Hermione loudly to the Fat Lady, who swung open.

The boys split up from the girls, as they went up to their own dormitries, feeling full from the feast most of the boys fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow. 

The girls however, sat up in bed and talked for hours, about Catalina's life before Hogwarts, about Hermiones life since Hogwarts. They compared notes on the different schools, and Hermione told Catalina about all the different lessons. It turned out Catalina was taking Divination, Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes. Hermione quickly filled her in on the different teachers, and told them about Hagrid, and Catalina couldn't wait to meet him. At about 2 am the girls, still talking throught the yawns, decided it was time to sleep.

'Go-o-od night Catalina!' said Hermione trying to stifle a yawn.

'Night, Hermione' said Catalina sleepily.

Within minutes the girls were fast asleep, and across the tower, in an identical dormitory so were the boys.


	11. Crossing The Line

****

~*~*~ Chapter Twelve ~*~*~

Crossing The Line

Hermione and Catalina were woken by various pillows hitting there beds.

'Get up! Come on girls your late!' shouted Harry from the doorway.

'Yeah, you two are gonna be late for breakfast if you don't get up soon!' Shouted Ron, as another charmed pillow floated over and hit Catalina in the face.

'What?' asked Hermione, sitting bolt upright in bed.

Catalina muttered something in a foreign tongue from under her heavy red and gold blankets before slipping fluidly into English, 'You guys shouldn't be in here!'

'Ah-ha! But were not in your dorm,' said Harry knowingly.

'Yeah we haven't crossed The Line!' said Ron with mock seriousness, reminding Harry forcibly of the Twins.

The boys grinned at the two girls who were trying to unravel themselves from their bedsheets, still pelting them with charmed pillows.

'Oh yeah?' said Hermione with a sly smile.

'Haven't crossed The Line?' asked Catalina catching on slipping her wand firmly into her hand.

The boys looked at each other nervously, and started to back away from the threshold. 

'_Accio Harry!' _Shouted Catalina at the same time as Hermione shouted '_Accio Ron!'_

The boys felt invisible strings pulling them towards the girls, they both grabbed hold of the doorframe, looking as if the were being swept away by strong winds. They couldn't hold the frame for much longer, and with one last desperate look at each other, let go.

Harry went flying into Catalina, and Ron into Hermione and soon they were lying in a pile of arms, legs and bedsheets. Laughing hysterically they tried to free themselves, and soon Catalina, Harry and Hermione were free, and left to laugh at Ron who seemed to be wrapping himself up more as he tried to get out.

In the end Hermione went over to extricate Ron from the sheets, and the two girls banished the boys from the room, promising they wouldn't be too long. Five minutes later the girls flew out of the tower, robes on back-to-front and bags flying behind them. The four of them quickly ran down the Great Hall, and found themselves four seats and ate breakfast in record breaking speed. 

Timetables were handed round, and three of them groaned as they saw they had double potions with the Slytherins first thing. Not wanting to be late for their first lesson of the year with Snape, they left breakfast as soon as possible, each clutching pieces of toast in their hands. They made their way down to the dungeons, and as they tuned the corner felt their hearts sink as they saw Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle already waiting in front of the closed classroom door.

'Oh look if it isn't Potty, Weasel and the Mudblood, Oh and their new _friend_' Said Malfoy, with a sneer playing across his thin lips.

Harry grabbed the back of Ron's robes, 'Snape'll be here any minute, he's just trying to aggravate you' he whispered to Ron.

'Ah what's the matter Weasel? Has your family run out of courage as well as money?' Malfoy sneered.

'Shut your face Malfoy, we're fifth years now, and that's the worst you can come up with?' Catalina hissed.

Ron saw Harry give a start and look fearfully towards Catalina.

'Oh, if it isn't little miss bad-tempered' Malfoy said directing his comment at Catalina, staring daggers at her.

Ron saw Harry staring wide eyed and fearfully at Catalina's hands, just then sensing Ron's gaze, Harry looked up, Ron quickly turned away, back to Malfoy.

'So Catalina, been catching up on old fiends have we? Been having a little –' Malfoy started, before the sound of the swish of a cloak shut him up. 

The seven of them stared around the corner, and saw Snape come into view. Malfoy quickly turned back to Crabbe and Goyle, and pretended to carry on a conversation they were having.

Snape unlocked the door and ushered them in, they choose seats at the back as far away from Malfoy and their cronies as possible.

'What was that all about?' Ron hissed at Harry.

'All what?' asked Harry faking amnesia.

'You were staring at Catalina as if she was about to explode, and what was all that Malfoy was saying about family reuni-' Ron started before Snape cut them off.

'Today we will be concocting a memory potion, so get out your quills and take these notes…' Snape said, and started to tell them the ingredients they would need.

Ron looked over to Harry waiting for him to explain, but he merely looked over to Catalina and shrugged.

'You know as much as I do Ron' he whispered, but apparently not to quietly.

'Mr Potter, I assume from the fact that you are talking instead of listening means you already know how to make the memory potion. Therefore you can and Longbottom can test your potion for us at the end of the class' he said silkily to Harry.

Harry didn't say anything but picked up his cauldron walked over to Nevilles table, slamming it down a little harder than he meant too. Harry stared furiously at the back of Snape's head, hoping to god something horribly painful would happen to him, then set to work on his potion. He had to get this right, or who knows what would happen.

Ron was paired up with Crabbe, Hermione with Goyle and Harry saw Catalina get up and walk over to Malfoy's table with a look of disgust on her face.

He saw Malfoy lean over and whisper something to Catalina, they both looked over to Harry, who quickly turned away. He heard Malfoy laugh out loud and from the corner of his eye saw Catalina gulp, before getting out her ingredients.

Obviously this was going to be one long lesson.

An hour later and Harry and Neville's memory potion was dark green instead of blue, and Harry was getting nervous. He looked over pleadingly to Hermione, who seemed to be doing both her and Goyle's work. He was staring intently at the wall with an extreme look of boredom on his face and Harry caught her eye, pointed to his potion they made a sign as if he was praying. 

Hermione must have understood because as she walked past under the pretense of washing her ladle, whispered 'Add more Moonflower petals to it.'

Neville picked more moonflower petals, and handed them to Harry, who started stirring feverishly. Slowly the potion started turning blue and Harry let out a sigh of relief just as Snape shouted,

'Times up! Your potion should be ready. Now everyone gather round, if Potter and Longbottom have done their potion correctly they should be able to remember any event that has happened to them ever for exactly one hour, when it will wear off'

Snape sneered at Harry as he handed a cup of the potion to him and Neville. Harry gave Neville a reassuring nod and the both gulped down the potion together. It tasted like peppermint and slid down their throats slowly.

'If they have done the potion correctly, they should see a rush of images in front of their eyes, indicating the memories which are flooding back to them' said Snape with a look on his face that said he clearly hoped they had got the potion wrong.

Nothing happened for a few moments and Harry started to panic but just then, images started to flash in front of his eyes, he saw himself in the Triwizard Tournament, in the Shrieking Shack, Facing a huge snake, standing in front of the Mirror of Erised and getting his Hogwarts letter. Images he already knew rolled past his eyes, going further and further back in time. Then images he didn't recognized started coming, him in the cupboard at Privit drive, him at Mrs Figgs house, him crying from a cut on his leg, Dudley chasing him around the house. Further and further the images stretched until he was just a baby. Him sitting on the floor, Dudley high above him in a highchair, Him folded in blankets sitting on a huge bike, A huge pair of hands picking him up from some rubble, Sirius's face holding him arms out to Harry, him and his mother running up some stairs. Even further back the memories stretched until he was just a small baby crawling around a garden, his mom and dad playing with him on a carpet, a gaggle of faces looking at him over the edge of a cot, him with another small baby in the garden. Then the images stopped and he looked around to the shocked faces, they were staring at him and Neville, with a look of awe on their faces.

'Right! Everyone packed up, for homework write a three page essay on the Memory potion, including a summery on the ingredients, uses and side-effects' shouted Snape over the babble of voices echoing around the dungeon.

Everyone made a rush to pack up, no-one wanted to stuck in the dungeon with Snape. Ron met up with Catalina and Hermione and walked over to Harry who was picking up some books he dropped on the floor.

Harry straightened up and looked into Ron and Hermiones grinning faces.

'What?' he asked suspiciously.

'Do you know what Snape meant by side-effects to the potion?' asked Hermione trying to hide her smile.

'No,' asked Harry staring between Ron and Hermione eyes narrowing, 'What are they?'

'Well,' said Ron grinning 'You actually _tell _people what the memoies your seeing'

'No I didn't!' said Harry nervously 'I didn't say anything!'

'Oh you did!' added Hermione, 'You told us all about you and the mirror of Erised, and you and Hagrid flying the motorbike, you and Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Sirius looking at you in your cot!'

'Yeah, people were a bit shocked about Sirius actually' Ron added laughing.

'Oh don't worry Harry! You didn't say anything too personnal!' Said Hermione noticing Harry's blushing and shocked face.

'Oh' Harry said, picked up his stuff and walked out of the deungeon, 'We don't want to be late, or it'll be like the time Aunt Petunia locked me out of the Kitchen like she did when I was six!' said Harry, then realising what he said clapped his hand over his mouth, eyes wide.

'How long does this potion last again?' Harry asked apprehensively.

'Oh, only an hour' said Rin, grinning as Harry let out a groan.

'Trust Snape to test it on me' said Harry agrilly to no-one in particular.

'That wasn't a very nice thing for Professor Snape to do, was it?' asked Catalina who had remained silent all the way through their conversation.

'Snape be nice? If Snapes ever been nice to us in our lives I'll eat Cupio!' Ron said laughing.

Everybody snickered at different images of Snape being nice. Even with their vivid imaginations it was hard and at last Harry settled on an image of him handing out sweets to children. Still grinnin at the image of Snape in a mothers frilly apron, Harry wandered from the conversation until Hermione's voice bought him back to planet earth.

'Catalina, Are you ok? You look a bit pale' Hermione asked.

Catalina glanced over to Harry, gulped and then rubbed her head.

'Yeah I've got a bit of a headache, Hermione could you show me where the First Aid Room is?' She asked

'Yeah, we've got a hospital wing here, come on I'll take you, see you at dinner guys' said Hermione as she led Catalina away down the corridor.

Ron and Harry made their way to the Great Hall for lunch, Ron laughing as Harry kept blurting out memories. He was still chuckling when they sat down to dinner, and the twins sat next to them. Ron filled in the twins in on the potions lesson, while Harry was shooting daggers at him.

'Ah come on Harry, the hours nearly up, just thank your lucky stars we weren't making veritserum!' said Ron, who started laughing even louder when Harry shared another memory that veritserum had reminded him of.

After that Harry had the sense to keep his mouth shut, and he merely nodded as Ron chatted to him. 

'Wonder whats wrong with Catalina? She didn't look very well did she?'asked Ron idly.

'Don't know, she didn't look very happy about that memory potion though did she?' said Harry, forgetting his vow to not answer any of Ron's questions.

'Nah, she looked postively sick when you and Neville started talking!' said Ron wonderingly.

'Really?' asked Harry curiously, watching Ron look at the watch on Harry's wrist.

'Only one minute to go Harry!' said Ron cheerfully.

'hmmm,' said Harry trying to keep his mouth shut, waiting for the minute to pass, suddenly with 10 seconds to go he blurted out 'I remember when Catalina's parents were at my hou-' he started, but then the memory faded in front of his eyes, and then he couldn't think of what he was going to say.

'What?' asked Ron confusion on his face, 'I thought you told me you'd never met Catalina before?'

'I didn't say that' said Harry, clearly not remembering what he'd just be talking about.

'Yeah you did, you just-' Ron begin, but seeing Harry's confused look he shut up. Then he remembered that Harry wouldn't remember any of his memories.

Harry looked across to Ron and saw his face, screwed up as if he was seriuosly thinking about something. He shrugged it off, and carried on eating his Shephards Pie, he'd need all his energy and wits about him, 

'Divination next' Harry groaned, seeing Ron's face he knew he wasn't too happy about that either.


	12. Cards and Cats Eyes

****

~*~*~ Chapter Thirteen ~*~*~

Cards and Cats Eyes

Catalina wasn't in the first Divination lesson of the year, something Professor Trewlawny wasted no time in telling them, she already knew.

'Yes, I was gazing in my crystal ball before you arrived, I saw that young Miss Firelight would not be with us today' she said airily, walking around the room.

Lavender and Parvati look very impressed at Professor Trelawany's prediction, but Harry and Ron merely rolled their eyes.

'Today class we will be starting Cartomancy, reading the future with the use of playing cards. Now everyone take a pack, and lay them out as I instruct you…' started Professor Trelawny, giving them details on how to arrange the cards on their desk properly.

After about 10 minutes Professor Trewlawny wandered over to their table, and watched Ron deal out Harry's cards. As each card was turned over she told gave a small gasp and told them the meaning,

'Four of Spades, an untimely decision,' she started, and Ron grinned at Harry behind Professor Trelawny's back, 'ten of spades, disappointment,' at this point he was stifling a fit of giggles, 'three of spades, heartache...this is a most unhappy deck!' She said staring at Harry with pity who looked stoically back, not noticing Ron stuffing the hem of his robe in his mouth, face red with silent laughter.

She gave a small shriek as the Ace of Spades was turned over.

'Oh my, dear...' she said eyes brimming, Harry could feel his heart sinking he knew what was coming next, 

'You have the card...the worst card...the _death _card' she said, leaving the words hanging in the air like a dark cloud.

She gave a last, sorrowful look towards Harry and continued round the class. As soon as she was out of earshot Ron burst out laughing and Harry couldn't help but join in, as depressing as your death being predicted twice a week; it was always funny to see how many different ways Trelawny could come up with.

'Sorry mate,' started Ron, 'Maybe I should've shuffled the pack?'

Harry burst out laughing, and Professor Trewlawny shot them an angry look, obviously wondering why Harry wasn't writing his will.

They spent ten minutes having a heated game of snap, which culminated in a Ron slamming his palm down very loudly and painfully on the bench, earning him a disapproving look from Professor Trelawny. Ron hastily pretended to be falling of his chair and Harry sat and tried to look as angelically innocent as possible. 

They spent the rest of the lesson arranging Ron's cards so he would get a very interesting reading. Five minutes before the end of the lesson Professor Trewlawny hovered over to their table, and instructed Harry to deal Ron's cards.

'Four of Spades, a strong partnership…King of Hearts, a passionate lover...Six of Diamonds, passion...Oh Ace of Hearts, True love! My oh my, that was a…happy reading if I ever did see one!' said Professor Trelawny slightly blushing, and slightly scowling at Ron's lack of death and destruction.

"Well when your popular" said Ron shrugging nonchalantly. It was all Harry could do to stop bursting out laughing there and then. The lesson quickly ended and everyone made a mad dash to get out.

Harry, Ron, Seamus and Neville waited until they'd stepped off the silver ladder before they burst out laughing and continued all the way to the Great Hall.

'Those must have been fixed!' said Seamus wiping a tear from his eye.

Ron could only nod in agreement, the look of Professor Trelawny's face had rendered him unable to speak through gales of laughter for some time. They reached the Great Hall and sat down for dinner, and were filling in the Twins on their hilarious Divination lesson, when Catalina and Hermione walked in. Catalina was whispering into Hermione's ear, who looked serious, and nearly as pale-faced as Catalina was. They saw the boys and stopped talking abruptly.

'Awight Catalina, feelin betta?' asked Ron thickly through a mouth of mash potato. 

'Fine thanks,' said Catalina 'Did I missed anything in Divination?'

'Oh not really' started Harry, 'Ron's going to be having a very good year though!'

Ron quickly filled the girls in on the Cartomancy lesson, and Catalina and Hermione were laughing along with them by the end of the story. Catalina had a bit of color returning to her pale face, and Hermione's was red with laughter. The conversation died down and everyone tucked into their dinner apart from Catalina who was ready a heavy looking book that was propped up against the water jug.

'What're you reading?' asked Lavender Brown who was sitting next to her, wrinkling her nose up in distaste at the thought of reading in your spare time.

'Oh it's a book that Hermione lent me, its really good its called-' started Catalina before the boys looked up.

'_Hogwarts: a history?'_ they both asked in unison, breaking into more gales of laughter at the shocked look on Catalina's face.

'Yeah, how did you guess?' she asked in confusion as most of the table was laughing.

'Well let's just say, Hermione's love of that book is infamous' said Fred Weasley from further up the table.

There were more titters of laughter and Hermione looked torn between amusement and anger.

'Well at least I read, unlike _some_ people' she said hautily, but with a secret smile playing on her lips.

'Hey we read books!' said George defensively, "What's that one you read the other day Fred?"

'Er…' said Fred, casting around his limited knowledge of books trying to think of a title, 'Er…Lord of the Rings!'

'Really?' asked Hermione raising her eyebrow, 'Well that's my favorite book! Don't you think that bit where Aragorn dies from the stab wound to his heart is really sad?'

Harry suppressed a smile as he watched the twins walk right into a trap.

'Yeah, pulls at our heart strings when good old…Agoran dies' said George nodding solemnly, 'may he rest in peace'

'Well you obviously haven't read Lord of the Rings because _Aragorn _doesn't get stabbed or die" said Hermione firmly, standing up and swinging her bag around her shoulders as everyone laughed at the twins.

'Walked into that one mate' said Ron, patting Fred on the shoulder consolingly, '_never _try to get one over Hermione. _Believe _me' 

The laughter dies down and suddenly everyone realised that the hall was nearly empty and lessons would be beginning in 2 minutes. The four of them quickly made their way to their transfiguration lesson with Professor McGonnagall, which would have to be on the other side of the castle.

'Sorry...we're...late Professor!' gasped Hermione, clutching a stitch in her side, as they all hurried over to their seats and got out their books.

'Very well' she said with a reproving stare.

'This term class we will be starting on the basics on human transfiguration, I will be putting you into pairs, and you be trying to alter the appearance of your partner, after making notes on pages 213 through to 215' she told the class, as they groaned and took out their parchment and quills.

Twenty minutes later Harry's hand was stiff with writing, and he laid down his quill and flexed his fingers as Professor McGonnagall started reading out the pairings.

'Patil and Brown, Thomas and Finnagen, Weasley and Granger, Firelight and Potter, and Longbottom, you can chose who you want to go with. Now everyone I want you to start small, try transfiguring eyes or hair' She shouted over the babble of voices.

Ron waved Hermione over to his desk, and Harry watched as Catalina picked up her books and walked over to him. He smiled shakily as he took out his wand, and looked his book, trying to memorise the spells.

'Er...do you want to start?' asked Catalina nervously.

'Sure' said Harry gripping his wand, 'I think I'll try the eyes'

__

'Oculus feles' said Harry pointing his wand towards Catalina's face, there was a flash of blue light, which settled in Catalina's eyes and began to fade.

'Did it work?' asked Catalina apprehensively, not sure if she wanted it to or not.

'Err,' said Harry leaning over and looking into Catalina's eyes 'Yeah! Its worked, they've gone all amber and you've got pupils like a cats!'

Harry transfigured a spare quill into a mirror and passed it to Catalina, who gazed at her eyes, 

'Wow! Just like cats, these are brilliant!' she said clearly loving her new look.

She looked at the mirror for a few seconds creating different expressions and watching the pupils react to the light. She muttered a few foreign words, seemingly unaware of this she slipped smoothly back in English.

'Right! Your go now' she told him, brandishing her wand and trying to look menacing.

Just as Catalina was raising her wand, to transfigure Harry, there came a huge thud, and sound of chairs falling to the ground. They both looked over in time to see Ron disappear in a flash of red light. Harry rushed across the room and picked him up from the floor, Hermione had managed to give Ron a sweeping silver beard, reminiscent to that Fred and George sported after crossing the age line at the beginning of last year.

'Sorry Ron! I didn't mean to do that! It was only supposed to be a goatee!' Hermione said wringing her hands, clearly distraught that she'd done something wrong in Professor McGonnagall's class.

'_Finite Encantem' _Shouted McGonnagall over the gales of laughter, and Ron's beard vanished with a puff of smoke.

'Right that's enough experimentation for today' said McGonnagall looking flustered, as she raced over to undo whatever Neville had done to Seamus.

'Homework is to write a short summery of what you learned in today's lesson, in for next lesson!' she shouted at the retreated backs as the four made there way back to Gryffindor tower.

It had been a long day, and the four of them settled in front of the large roaring fire in Gryffindor tower. Catalina had been introduced to Cupio, who was entertaining them with his tricks. Catalina had never seen anything like Cupio before and was enjoying teaching him to roll over. Harry was beginning to get sleepy, and the flames cast weird shadows on the faces of his three friends, there was something different about Catalina's face he couldn't put his finger on. Ron noticed Harry staring intently at Catalina, who looked up at Ron having just asked a question.

'Huh?' he said stupidly.

'I said, does he have any special powers?' repeated Catalina.

'Not that I noticed' said Ron, with a look of alarm in his eyes.

Just then Harry realised what was wrong with Catalina's face.

'Your eyes!' he blurted out, as all three of them stared at him, 'I mean I never changed them back at the end of transfiguration!' he added.

'Yeah I know, I think they look cool like this! I'm gonna see how long the teachers take until they make me change them back' she said laughing.

Ron laughed and Hermione looked as if she was about to say something in her disapproving McGonnagall voice, but thought better of it and bit her lip. In a strange way the cat's eyes suited Catalina more than her harsh black one used to, they looked warmer but gave her a sort of alien look about her. Harry prayed he'd never see Catalina angry with eyes like that.

Harry zoned out as the subject of conversation turned back to Cupio, he found sitting around Catalina disconcerting. It made him uncomfortable, and her strange eyes mixed with her long black hair, made her look like a black cat.

'I'm going to bed' said Harry stifling a yawn, waiting as Ron pulled himself up out of the large armchair, and followed him into the boy's dorm.

*

Harry was walking with a crowd of people, towards a large white building. He looked around to the people he was walking with, and realised with a jolt, that they were all clad in black, wearing masks over their face. His stomach gave a lurch and he shivered against the sudden chill that crept up his spine. 

He looked around, desperately searching for a way of escape, but the Death Eaters weren't paying any attention to him.

He followed them unable to make his legs obey the commands his brain was giving them. In one movement, the group of Death Eaters he was walking with drew out their wands. The door to the large white building sprung open, and they glided silently towards a side room. They seemed to be in some sort of official building, and Harry could hear his footsteps on the marble floor. They approached a door, with a shiny metal plaque on it, but before he had time to read the name, the door was blasted on the hinges and shattered in to millions of tiny splinters. When the debris had cleared from Harry's vision he could see a man in black robes, surrounded by a wall of Death Eaters.

'Where are they? Where are you hiding them?' one asked in a harsh voice.

'Who?' said the surrounded man, standing up proudly against the Death Eaters.

'Wrong answer' said one silkily.

'_Crucio_' shouted another, and the wall of Death Eaters laughed as the man shrieked on the floor.

'Where are they?' the harsh voice repeated once the curse had been lifted.

The man stood up on shaking legs, and faced the wall of Death Eaters. He clamped his mouth shut and stared at the faces. Harry looked into the eyes of the man, he saw fear there, and the knowledge that this night was the last night he would see, he knew he was going to die, and there was nothing Harry could do to stop it.

'I would never talk for _scum _like you' spat the man

'Well if you won't talk to us, you will never talk to anyone..._Avada Kedavra!_'

There was a flash of blinding green light, and a the sound of rushing death, and Harry screamed and sat bolt upright, gasping in the darkness.

He screamed clutching his hand to his forehead, where the scar was burning fiercely.

'Harry! Harry are you OK?' came Ron's voice, Harry felt hands pulling his own hands away from his forehead.

'I'm OK,' Harry managed to gasp 'Just a nightmare, I'm OK' 

He sat bolt upright, swung his legs over the side of his bed and reached for some parchment and his quill, teeth gritted against the waves of pain that were gradually subsiding.

'Harry, what are you doing?' asked Ron incredulously 'Why are you writing a letter at a time like this?'

'I'm telling Dumbledore, he has to know. If I leave it too long I won't be able to remember anything, they fade after a while the dreams' Harry explained, whilst feverishly scratching his quill across the parchment.

At that moment Hedwig flew through the window, and Harry didn't have time to wonder how she'd known that he needed a letter taken.

'Take this to Dumbledore, please it's really important!' he told Hedwig.

Hedwig flew through the window, and there was silence for a few minutes.

'What was it?' Ron asked, not wanting to know the answer 'Who was it?'

'A death' said Harry heavily 'Someone in a large white building it looking really important, the Death Eaters wanted to know where someone was being hidden, the man wouldn't tell them'

A heavy silence filled the room, Ron looked stricken and Harry crawled back into his bed.

'That was the Ministry, the big white building you saw' said Ron after a long time.

'Let's not worry about it tonight, go back to sleep' said Harry, not comforted by his own words, and he didn't expect Ron to be either.

After what seemed like hours Ron's snores filled the room, and Harry lay in bed looking at the ceiling. The look in the mans eyes stayed with Harry until he finally fell asleep and the dull grey of dawn filled the room.


	13. The Midnight Meeting

****

~*~*~ Chapter Fourteen ~*~*~

The Midnight Meeting

Harry had hardly closed his eyes when Ron was shaking him awake, with a look if concern on his face. The boys dressed in silence, got their books together and went down into the common room, before meeting the girls and going down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

They had missed the arrival of the post yesterday in their haste to get to Potions, but now hundreds of owl of every shape and size roamed around the bewitched roof of the Great Hall looking for the owners of their packages. Harry looked up and saw a large Barn Owl deposit a letter in front of Catalina, then Errol dropped one off for Ron. The three large dark brown owls caught his eye, they were swooping towards him and dropped off a letter to him, Hermione and Ron.

Harry tore it open and saw that it was written in Dumbledore's handwriting.

__

To Harry

Could you please come to my office at 12 p.m. this evening? We will talk about last night events then.

Thankyou

Albus Dumbledore

He looked over to Ron and Hermione's letters curiously and saw they were nearly identical to his. Ron gave him a confused look but Hermione mouthed 'Order of the Phoenix?' to him with a raised eyebrow. 

Ron gulped nervously, and shot a look around him to make sure no one was listening. Catalina was immersed in her letter, with a worried expression on her face. 

'What's all this about last nights events' asked Hermione quietly.

Harry was looking at the letter from Dumbledore, his eyes glazed as he recalled the dream. Hermione shot Ron and worried look, and Ron opened his mouth to answer, but then Harry snapped out of his reverie.

'I had a dream last night' he whispered, looking everywhere but at Ron and Hermione.

'Harry sent a letter to Dumbledore last night...explaining what happened' said Ron uncomfortably.

'What happened?' asked Hermione fearfully.

'A man in the ministry, he was –' started Harry after a slight pause, but was interrupted by Catalina, who thumped her letter down on the table.

'Who's your letter from?' asked Catalina.

'No-one' said Harry guiltily 'Whose yours from?'

'No-one' she said equally as guilty.

An uncomfortable silence followed, until Ron opened his letter that had been delivered by Errol.

'Hey look Harry! Photo's from Merlin's Magical Wonderland!' he said passing over some of the moving photos, hoping it would take his mind off last nights events.

Harry laughed to himself as he saw one large group photo, with him, Ron and Hermione standing together grinning. And laughed even harder when the Fred and George in the photo dropped something down Percy's neck, who instantly forgot his mayoral position, and started to squirm trying to get it out. The trio laughed quietly as they passed photo's between themselves, sharing the memories. They passed them to Catalina whose face broke into a wide grin when they saw a picture of Ron and Harry asleep, which Hermione had sneakily, took.

'Aw don't they look sooooo cute!' said Hermione in a voice that sounded like she was talking to two toddlers, or puppies. They burst into a fit of giggles as they saw Harry in the photo started to murmur and mutter in his sleep, and the real-life Harry turn scarlet.

Mysterious letters forgotten, the four got up to go to their first lesson of the day, Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherin's.

'I wonder who they're going to get to cover for Hagrid' pondered Harry as the walked across Hogwarts grounds towards Hagrid's hut. There was no light inside and the windows looked like dark, empty eye sockets.

'Oh no! It's _her_, that one from last year, what's her name again?' muttered Ron.

'Good morning class, I am Professor Grubbly-Plank, and I will be your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher' started the elderly witch.

'Where's Hagrid?' came a cold, sneering voice from behind Harry.

'He's indisposed, but will be returning in October' she said shortly.

Harry looked round to see Malfoy's pale, pointed face alight with curiosity. Harry balled up his hands, and felt his fingernails press into the sides of his palm. Lucious Malfoy had been one of those Death Eaters he had encountered at the end of the Third Task, and Malfoy was still strutting around the school like he owned the place.

'What's the matter, missing your half-breed pal?' asked Malfoy, noticing Harry was staring at him.

Harry didn't say anything, he refused to rise to Malfoy's bait, and turned back to Professor Grubbly-Plank who was introducing the course for the next few months.

'This term we will be looking at magical creatures and their role within the home. So we are going to be finding out all about magical pets, and how to look after them' She said briskly.

Ron's face breaking out into a huge grin, he turned to Harry and whispered happily, 'No more Blast-Ended Skrewts!' 

Harry couldn't help but smile himself, but he was still worried about Hagrid and the task Dumbledore was getting him to do that was taking so long. He surveyed the class's face and smiled inwardly, everyone looked extremely pleased that they'd finally finished the weekly torture of the Guess-What-Hagrid's-Got-For-Us-This-Week game.

Harry couldn't concentrate properly on the lesson, and was only half listening to what Professor Grubbly-Plank was saying about Kneazles. His mind was wondering to the meeting with Dumbledore tonight, and wondering if he had any news on Sirius.

'For homework, write a short essay on Kneazles, to be handed in on Friday' said the teacher trying to force what looked like a large tabby cat, into a charmed cage.

The four of them trooped up towards the castle, and found themselves a seat in the Great Hall. Hermione had an extremely pensive look on her face, and Ron's was shining with anticipation as he pulled out his timetable.

'Great! Defense Against the Dark Arts next! Now we'll get to see how good your Professor Figg is' said Ron happily.

'Well she can't be as good as Professor Lupin' said Harry vaguely, remembering his first lesson when they were fighting boggarts in the staff room.

After a quick meal of sandwiches and salad, Harry, Catalina, Ron and Hermione set off for their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson of the year. Harry was secretly nervous of Professor Figg, after all he'd know her since he was a baby, and thought her to be quite mad.

They settled down in their seats and waited for Professor Figg to arrive with baited breath. She finally strolled into the class 5 minutes late, and gave them all a small smile.

'Now class. This term's topic will be Voldemort' she paused waiting for the surprised gasps to finish. 'Now as I'm sure Professor Dumbledore told you after last years _events_' she said her eyes pausing on Harry 'Voldemort is gaining strength, and it will not be long until the signs can be ignored by the general wizarding community. So, this year I am to teach you how to duel, and yes I know you already practiced it exhaustively with Professor Moody last year' seeing everyone look of dismay.

'Now the spell I will teach you today is called the _Protego _spell, it is a variation on the _Patronus, _a defense advanced wizards can use on dementors. Now the _Protego _spell creates a shield around the person who conjures it, which can block almost anything for a short time' she started staring at the classes reactions, they all seemed to think this would be an extremely useful spell to master.

'Yes?' Professor Figg asked Hermione whose hand was up in the air.

'Can it block the unforgivables?' she asked voice trembling.

Harry waited with baited breathe for the answer, as did the whole class it seems, because when Professor Figg told them 'No' there was a sound of everyone letting out their breath.

'Now like the _Patronus _the _Protego _spell requires a great deal of strength and force of will, and it will take on the colour most suited to you personality. Now get into your pairs, and start to practise to wand movement, and saying the spell. I don't expect any of you to be able to produce a really good shield today, in fact I'd be rather surprised if you did!'

Ron and Harry paired up together and Catalina and Hermione grouped up. They practised the wand movement, then saying the spell, then paired them together.

'_Expecto Protego!'_ Shouted Harry, waving his wand through the air. He was delighted to see what looked like a red metallic liquid pour out of the tip of his wand, which started to grow and took the form of a barrier. It settled in front of him, as thin as paper, reaching from the top of his head, to just below his heart and he looked through its translucent surface.

'Hey Ron you face is bright red through this! Matches your hair!' he said laughing.

'I can't even see you through it! Maybe it's like a one way mirror kind of thing, because all I can see is my face!' said Ron moving full circle around Harry.

'Hey, whichever way I walk it follows, to protect you!' said Ron clearly impressed.

'_Finite Incantum' _said Harry, and the shield disappeared in a wisp of smoke 'You try!'

'_Expecto Protego,' _shouted Ron, who was quickly enveloped in a dark red shield, which hovered restlessly over his face.

'Well done you two,' said Professor Figg, walking over to Harry and Ron 'Now practise trying to break the shields'

'_Tarantellegra_' shouted Harry, aiming his spell at Ron's shield, three seconds later Ron's legs were moving in a complicated quickstep.

'You'll need to work on them a bit more before they can take curses and hexes' a laughing Professor Figg told them, walking away to inspect Deans and Seamus's.

Harry and Ron had fun breaking each others shields, and finally Harry was lying on the floor wheezing with laughter from a well placed tickling charm from Ron.

'Look at this Ladies and Gentlemen, Catalina's managed to create a full shield!' said Professor Figg, indicating towards Catalina, who was surrounded by an orb of golden fire.

Harry stood up slowly and stared in amazement, and started walking around Catalina. Her shield wrapped all the way around her, making his shield suddenly feel a little inadequate. He could feel the power practically radiating of it and his eyes were stinging from the bright golden fire.

'Well Mr. Potter, Let's see if you can break through this one' said the small Professor with a smile lingering on her lips.

Harry gulped and drew out his wand, severely doubting his ability to break through Catalina's wall of fire that was surrounding her.

'_Rictusempra_' shouted Harry, there was a spark of white light where his hex landed on the shield, it didn't break it, but the fiery red dimmed slightly.

Taking the initiative, he started to fire as many of his schoolground hexes as he could think of at the shield, each time they hit, a white spark rippled along its surface.

'_Tarantellegra! Rictusempra! Furnunculus! Lacrimosata!_' shouted Harry, the shield had become see-through now, and Harry could see Catalina's worried expression as she tried to pour more power into her shield.

'_Rictusempra_' shouted Harry, the final curse broke through the shield with a bright white flash, and the paper-thin remains of Catalina's shield fell the floor in a shower of dangerous looking shards, where they lay for a few second before disappearing.

Harry had been so intent on watching the disappearing pieces of Catalina's shield, he didn't notice that Catalina was bent over double wheezing with laughter, he caught sight of her and started laughing. Catalina shot him an angry glare, or at least tried to through her gritted teeth, laughter bubbling up and spilling out uncontrollably.

'F– Fi – Fix I – it' she said giggling, tears streaming from her eyes.

'_Finite Incantem' _said Harry, grinning as an angry Catalina drew herself up to her full height, rubbing her aching sides.

'That wasn't funny Harry,' she said looking at his happy face 'You waited ages until you took that curse off!' 

'Just be glad I didn't use the Furnunculus curse last' said Harry grinning, as anger flashed through Catalina's cat's eyes.

'Well done Miss Firelight, 10 points to Gryffindor. OK class, that's enough for today, for homework write a short summery on shield charms in for next lesson. Now before you leave I would like to give you a short demonstration, to show you what a fully developed shield looks like' said Professor Figg, drawing out her wand.

'_Expecto Protego' _shouted Professor Figg, who was immediately surrounded by a orb of fiery red light, flames licked up the sides of the sphere, and in the centre a owl standing on a broomstick was visible, made up out of yellow light.

Everyone gathered around Professor Figg's shield, mesmerized by the colours and the emblem in the middle. Harry reached out to touch it, a few centimeters before his fingers reached the shield, a small arc of red light, leapt out and earthed itself on his finger.

'Ouch!' shouted Harry, drawing his finger towards him, it was glowing brightly, and looked as though he'd dipped it into red paint.

'It would have been a lot worse Harry, if I wanted it to,' Professor Figg said as her shield faded away from her 'You see class, you can control your shield eventually, but at the moment yours are mere raw magic, and uncontrollable'

Harry looked over to Catalina, whose eyes were downcast, staring at her fingers. He looked over to Ron, who was looking at Harry then Catalina quizzically. Harry turned his attention back to Professor Figg, who was answering a question set by Hermione.

'Well, when you master your own shield, you are able to change it. As you saw on mine eventually an image will appear, which takes the form of something that is close to you, or something that personifies you. It seems my shield thinks my personality is summed up best by an owl. It is possible in special circumstances to merge your own shield with someone else's. In my case the person was absolutely besotted by quidditch, so now I have the broom inside my emblem. It will never fade away, it'll will always be there' said Professor Figg softly, gazing into the distance.

'Right class dismissed!' she said turning away from her class.

'That was brilliant!' said Ron, while the other three nodded, agreeing with him.

'Catalina. Your shield was amazing!' gushed Hermione.

'Thanks' said Catalina, blushing as they walked back to the common room.

'How did you manage to do it like that first time?' asked Ron, Harry watched Catalina closely, he had been wondering the same thing himself...

'Oh I've had a bit of practise before' said Catalina dissmisvly, avoiding everyone gaze 'I...er...studied it last year'

There as no doubt about it, Catalina was avoiding his gaze, and dark flush creeping up her cheeks. She was lying.

*

Ron, Harry and Hermione sneaked out of the common room that night and made their way along the cold corridors to Dumbledore's office. Harry's heart was beating against his chest uncomfortably, and he was really nervous about what lay ahead of him. He stole a glance at Ron and Hermione who both seemed to be feeling the same as him, Hermione's face was pale and Ron was chewing his lip thoughtfully.

'God, I'm nervous' said Harry breaking the silence, letting out a long breath.

'Yeah me too' said Hermione, 'But Dumbledore wouldn't make us do anything he didn't think we couldn't do'

'Yeah, He must have thought us capable...right?' he added, needing confirmation from the others.

'Sure' said Harry more bravely than he felt.

Soon they were standing in front of the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office, searching their memories for names of sweet, magical and muggle.

Er, lets see, Bertie Botts?' started Ron.

'Nah, he hates them' said Harry, thoughtfully running his hand through his hair.

'Sugar Quill?' supplied Hermione.

'Flying saucers?'

'Chocolate Frogs?'

'Humbugs?'

'Sherbet Lemons?'

'Fizzing Whizbees?' asked Ron, suddenly the gargoyle sprang aside the lets them step onto the moving staircase, they came to a stop in front of the large wooden door.

Hermione raised her hand, hesitated a few centimeters from the door, then resolutely knocked the door.

'Come in' came Dumbledore's voice through the door.

Harry, Hermione and Ron walked into the room staring around them and the back of six Large chairs, all of which were occupied by people.

'Please sit down' said Dumbledore warmly.

'Harry, Ron and Hermione this is Mundungus Fletcher, he's an obliviator in the Ministry of Magic. He was good friend of your father after he left school'

Harry nodded towards the man, who had short brown hair, and a large scar running down his face from his eyebrow to his lips on the left side.

'Hello Harry, Ron and Hermione' he said warmly.

Harry looked round the room, and saw Snape, Professor McGonnagall, Professor Figg, Remus Lupin, and Sirius all sitting in the chairs looking at them.

'Sirius!' he said looking shocked that he was inside the castle.

'Hullo Harry' said Sirius with a cheerful smile on his face, but at closer inspection he didn't look that happy, his eyes were quite serious.

Harry was torn between running over and hugging him, but was held back by the number of eyes watching him. Sirius seemed to understand and gave a small nod to the chair next to him. They went and sat down, feeling slightly out of place around all witches and wizards around them.

'Well you three sit down, and then we can begin. Good. Now I received your letter last night Harry, and immediately got in touch with everyone I could. Now, if you could, could you lease tell us about the dream?' said Dumbledore, his usually bright eyes, where dull and sad looking.

'Er...well I was inside a group of Death Eaters, I couldn't see their faces because of the masks. We walked up towards this official looking white building, then we came to a door, I didn't have time to read the name plaque. There was a man working there, even though it was late at night. The Death Eaters wanted to know where someone was, and where they were hiding someone, I don't know who. He wouldn't tell them so…they used the Crucio curse' said Harry softly, reliving the images in his head.

'Right, thank you Harry. Now everyone, I apparated to the ministry as soon as I received the letter, I contacted some of the order who are in the ministry. It seems that it was Dedalus Diggle, he was killed with the avada kedavra curse' Dumbledore said heavily over the gasps of everyone around him.

'Not Dedalus!' said Professor McGonnagall, looking stunned and saddened at the same time, 'But why?'

'I believe the Death Eaters were trying to locate the whereabouts of the Firelight's. I tried to stop the papers printing the story of their return, and now it seems Voldemort has the pinned down as their next victims' Dumbledore explained.

Harry shot Hermione and Ron's a quick glance, and saw that they were pale and had a frightened look in their eyes. Voldemort is after Catalina's parents, and her as well thought Harry panicking, what were they going to do?

'What are we going to do? The child comes to this school, we have to protect her' said Sirius, he didn't seem to be taking the news of the about the Firelight's that badly.

'Hogwarts is well protected at the moment, Catalina will be safe here. It's her parents that I worried about, they're currently being hidden, Dedalus was their secret keeper, but now they're unprotected' said Dumbledore, his eyes flicking briefly towards Sirius, who would had been Harry's parents secret keeper. 'Voldemort obviously didn't know about the _fidelius _charm, otherwise he wouldn't have ordered the murder of Dedalus'

'Now, we have to think hard about the Firelight's, we have to protect them' said Dumbledore seriously.

Sirius gave a small derisive laugh, and Dumbledore shot him a warning glance. Harry quickly looked over towards Sirius, who had a scowl on his face, he then glanced over to Remus, who had a closed expression on his face, but his eyes were burning with anger.

'They haven't returned to Godric's Hollow yet, but after this news I don't know if they will. I have made their current hiding place unplottable, and numerous charms were performed last night. But if you all agree, I will need all of your help to keep the charms in place' 

Dumbledore said, staring pointedly at Sirius and Remus, as if expecting them to disagree, but that merely sat glaring at the floor.

'OK, you three should get back to your dormitory, please don't speak to anyone about this, not even Catalina' said Dumbledore eyeing the silent trio 'If you come up with any ideas please tell me, and if you have any more dreams tell me at _once_'

Harry, Ron and Hermione stood up and trooped to the door, Harry who was last out of the door turned round and closed it to, seeing Sirius and Remus glaring at Dumbledore.

'What, was all that about?' asked Ron slowly.

'I don't know' said Harry bewilded by Sirius's and Remus's reactions to the news.


	14. Gifts

****

~*~*~ Chapter Fifteen ~*~*~

Gifts

The next few days passed in a blur of lessons, essays and long periods of research in the library. Harry was sitting in the library writing up his essay for the shield charm, before tomorrow's lesson. Hermione had just been researching her Care of Magical creature's homework, before she had practically run off in search of Professor Grubbly-Plank. Harry had put it down to a problem with the essay and had continued to riffle through pages of _Advanced Defence Against Dark Arts _trying to find the chapter, when he felt someone come and sit down next to him, and thump a heavy textbook on the table. Harry looked up and saw Ron huffing with the effort of carrying the book, which looked the size of a tombstone.

'What's that for?' he said laughing at Ron's flushed face.

'You' said Ron simply.

Harry pulled the book to face him with some difficulty, the dark green leather was dull, and the peeling gold letters of the front proclaimed it was about '_Ancient and powerful gifts'._

'What do I need that for?' asked Harry, confusedly.

'Look at page 5465' said Ron shortly.

Harry turned the brittle pages of the ancient book, searching through pages and pages of writing, diagrams and moving pictures. He finally located the page and looked to the chapter title.

'_Magus – the power behind the gift_' Harry read out.

Ron was looking at Harry intently, staring at his closed expression he sighed and began to explain.

'Look, when you first met Catalina, you got on really well with her, you defended her against Hermione and me when we had our doubts. But ever since that train ride you been looking at her as if she was about to explode. Now I guess it's because you don't understand what a Magus is, or that you're scared of her powers' stated Ron blandly.

'I'm not scared of – ' started Harry defensively, but Ron held up a hand to silence him.

'So, instead of staring at her as if she was about to fry you, read this. Catalina can't do magic without a wand yet. She's not powerful enough' Ron explained.

Harry turned to the pages to the book and stared to read about magus, marvelling about Ron sudden perceptiveness.

'Look here, it says _A magus power cannot fully be controlled until the witch or wizard has been able to properly control the power inside them. Normal witches and wizards have to channel their raw magical energy through wands, but a magus uses their fingers. Before the time they can control their power, the magic inside them can be released in moments of intense emotion and anger' _said Ron proudly.

Harry stared at the page, trying to take in the words, so Catalina couldn't even use her powers yet? Not unless she'd had loads of training, and Harry doubted she'd stayed long enough in one place to get any?

Now correct me if I'm wrong' said Ron sensibly 'but didn't you direct you raw magic at you aunt, when you blew her up that summer? It's exactly the same thing; your magic was uncontrollable without a wand, just like Catalina's. So, stop worrying; treat her like the normal person like she is'

Harry watched the faded picture of a magus blowing up a door from bolts of lightening from their fingers, remembering the curse he put on his aunt Marge, it was just the same thing…. Sort of.

'Just don't get her angry! Otherwise she might just explode…literally!' said Ron happily.

He unfolded himself from the chair, with a smug grin on his face, clearly impressed that he'd solved Harry's problem, _without _the help of Hermione. He walked out of the library with a spring in his step, and Harry grinned as he saw him walk right into someone who was coming the other way. Harry's stomach plummeted as he saw it was Catalina, Ron was jerking his thumb over his shoulder directing her to where Harry was sitting.

Harry quickly tried to slam to tombstone book shut, but only managed half of the heavy pages before Catalina came and sat next to him.

'What are you reading?' she asked pulling the book towards her 

'Nothing' Harry lied quickly, too quickly, and Catalina looked him suspiciously.

'Why are you looking up about parselmouth's? She asked gazing at the chapter Harry had left open.

'Oh!' said Harry going bright red 'I'm...er...I'm a parseltongue' he mumbled.

'Really? Fascinating' said Catalina whose eyes were skimming fast over the chapter, Harry was surprised, he was expecting her to be scared of him, like most of the school back in his second year. 

Catalina must have noticed her shocked expression, because she looked over to him, and smiled softly.

'I know what it's like to have a gift that everyone's afraid of' she said quietly. 

Harry gazed at her, as if seeing her in a different light.

'I never looked at it as a gift' he said slowly 'What about you?'

'I see mine as an incredible gift' she said gazing at her fingertips 'Scary, but incredible'

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, each with their own thoughts.

'So, have you learned anything new about your gift?' she asked, breaking Harry out of his thoughts.

'Nope, but I've learned at lot about yours, that's why the book was here really, Ron was just trying to get to me to understand it. I must admit you got me a little scared the other day on the train, with the sparks and everything' admitted Harry laughing at his own stupidity.

'I shouldn't have let Malfoy wind me up' she said simply 'Well if you've read all about mine I think it's only fair that I get to read about yours'

Catalina pulled the book closer and started to read, lips moving slightly as she read along. Harry carried on writing his essay on shields for Professor Figg, they each worked in companionable silence. After a while Catalina slammed the book shut, and Harry threw down his quill.

'Finished?' she asked him.

'Near enough, I reckon we should get back to the common room, before Snape gives us detention for being out in the corridors' he answered.

'You don't like Snape much do you?' she asked laughing at the grimace that spread across his face.

'He doesn't like me much either' Harry laughed and the launched into a recap of the past 4 years of Snape's history with him. Before he knew what had happened they were at the portrait entrance to Gryffindor tower who was glaring at them for waking her up. He'd told Catalina all about their third year, and even of Sirius's innocence and his fathers animagus form. He hadn't meant to, but Catalina had listened intently to the stories, laughing loudly at the point where he had knocked Snape unconscious in the shrieking shack.

They walked into the common room to see Ron and Hermione sitting in their usual chairs, watching Cupio who was running around Ron's lap. They walked over, and Ron gave Harry a conspirational wink. Catalina was enthralled with Cupio who likewise loved Catalina, and by the end of the evening he was sitting on Catalina's lap sleeping. It was getting quite late, and Ron and Hermione got up to go to bed, when Harry noticed what Ron was carrying.

'Oh my god! I haven't done Snape's potions essay!' said Harry panicking at the sight of Ron's two page essay he was clutching.

A similar groan coming from Catalina told him she'd forgotten as well.

'Well good luck mate' said Ron patting him consolingly on the back 'It's gonna be a long night!'

Harry groaned and pulled out his potions textbook and parchment, muttering under his breath about Snape and his evil homework. Catalina was in a similar position, cursing at herself for forgetting. They sat in the common room, with the fire dying down until they were glowing embers, sharing notes and copying each other. 

'Better not tell Hermione! She'd kill us' laughed Harry as he changed the wording of one of Catalina's sentences for his essay.

"Yeah she doesn't seem the type to be using crib notes' laughed Catalina as she sleepily rubbed her eyes.

Harry wondered for a second about the word, he didn't really know what it meant but sounded vaguely familiar. It was probably American he thought as he thought back to some of the words he'd heard her use before he didn't know, and the times when she accidentally spoke to them in Chinese or Afrikaans. It must be really weird to know all those different languages and be able to speak them with such ease he thought before she interrupted his thoughts.

'Finished!' she proclaimed leaning back in the soft chairs.

'Nearly there…Done!' said Harry happily leaning back himself.

'I'm too tired to even sleep now' she muttered from somewhere inside the chair.

'Mmmm' agreed Harry feeling absolutely shattered.

They sat in the chairs unable to move talking about their gifts again, Catalina was absolutely fascinated with Harry's, asking him a million questions which Harry seriously didn't know the answer to. She tried to get him to speak in Parseltongue but it never worked so she began begging him for a live demonstration.

Harry groaned, but obligingly pulled out his wand, and stood up stiffly.

'_Serpensortia' _he muttered, and a huge black snake coiled out of the end of the wand, he heard Catalina gasp, but she looked excited as well.

'Go over to the girl' Harry instructed the snake, who flicked his tongue out at Harry then slithered over to Catalina.

'Why?' he asked, standing his ground.

'Because I told you to' said Harry, too tired to be arguing with a snake.

'Thisss isss ssso demeaning' said the snake, slithering over to Catalina, as Harry rolled his eyes.

The snake circled Catalina and crawled over her lap. Catalina stared at the snake, then at Harry, who was now hissing and spitting at the snake, which was chasing his tail round in circles. She looked wide-eyed at the snake again, who was slithering up to her, and looked up at Harry, who was grinning.

'Don't worry its not going to hurt you' he told her, or at least tried to.

'Er...in English please?' she said, faintly grinning at Harry who had just hissed to her, but it looked as if he was directing a question at her.

'Sorry, I said don't worry it won't hurt you' said Harry laughing who then hissed at the snake again, who slithered over to Harry. They had a short conversation, and then Harry grinned and pulled out his wand.

'_Finite Encantem' _he said, and watched the snake disappear.

'That was so cool!' said Catalina 'How do you know what to say?'

'I don't, I feel like I'm speaking English, I didn't even know that when I spoke to you that I was still talking in parseltongue' he admitted.

'Its not a very nice sounding language is it? All harsh and angry sounding, just like Russian. When we lived in Vladivostok, everyone always sounded like they were shouting at you, but all they were doing is asking directions or something' laughed Catalina.

'Do you know the language of every single country you've visited?' asked Harry curiously.

'Basically. I've got a better grip on some rather than others. Chinese was the hardest, they don't even have a recognisable alphabet, and Russian. But my all time favourites are the European languages, French, Spanish, Italian…'

'You can speak all them?' asked Harry, amazed.

'Just about'

'How did you learn all those different languages though?'

'I had a good teacher, and since we were in a different country basically every year you just learn it from a young age. You get a special technique and just use that' she explained simply.

'Wow. It's really impressive to me. I only ever did a year of French classes at my muggle school before I came here. All I could say was Bonjour, je m'appelle Harry, je habite a quatre privet drive'

Catalina started laughing and Harry grinned in an embarrassed sort of way.

'I love the English accent you know, is sounds so funny!' she said laughing again.

'I haven't got an accent' Harry said smiling, 'anyway you're the one with an accent!'

'Yes you do, and what accent have I got?' she asked.

'I don't know, foreign' said Harry after a few minutes of thinking.

'Ah well you have an accent because it has a name, but I don't have an accent because it doesn't have a name' she said wisely, making Harry struggle for a comeback.

'Yeah…' said Harry not sounding thoroughly convinced.

'Yeah, English' she said firmly pointing to Harry, then pointing to herself she said, 'no fixed nationality'

'So where _are _you from then?' asked Harry frowning, this kind of thinking went against all his preconceptions.

'Nowhere, I am a citizen of the world' said Catalina smugly.

'Yeah but where do you belong?' asked Harry.

'Nowhere, I belong where I am at the time I suppose'

Harry gave this a few minutes thought, Somebody couldn't belong nowhere, they had to have a home, a culture, a place where they belonged. To belong nowhere was inconceivable to Harry so he just gave up.

'Anyway, why the need to belong somewhere?' she asked him.

'Everyone belongs somewhere. You've got to know who you are and where you came from' said Harry stubbornly.

'Why?' asked Catalina simply, as Harry struggled again for a reason. It was just the way things were.

'Home is where the heart is', said Harry, 'to quote a well used phrase'

'Well my hearts here' said Catalina pointing to her chest and standing up, 'And with that brings an end to our deep and philosophical early morning discussion'

She wandered across the room towards her staircase. Harry hadn't realised the conversation was over and said a quick good night before she disappeared. He climbed up to the boy's dormitory, trying not to disturb anyone. As he climbed into bed sleepily he thought how nice it was for someone to not actually be scared of his gift, but how strange Catalina's situation was.

*

Days passed by, lessons were taken, and dinners were eaten in the Great Hall, and Harry, Ron, Catalina and Hermione became closer friends. It was nearly the start of October, when a notice was posted in the common room, announcing the beginning of the Quidditch season. Underneath there was a plea for a new keeper and Ron excitedly told Harry he was planning on trying out. Harry was secretly pleased Ron was trying out, it would be nice to have him on the team, so he wouldn't be the only 5th year.

Monday night came around, and Harry grabbed his Firebolt and headed out towards practise. With the absence of Oliver Wood, the team stood around for a few moments before George took up call. 

'Everyone in the changing rooms! Its time to talk tactics!' he shouted, grinning at the team.

'Now class' began George in a voice uncannily like McGonnagall.

'We need and new captain and keeper this year' Fred added prowling in front of the seated players, pretending to look stern.

'And also, Basically everyone but Harry are leaving soon, so I think we should set up a reserve team, not just in case injuries,' added George.

'But so they can get a lot of practise before we leave' finished Fred.

'So, were having an election for captain next practise, so give it some thought' added George severely, but grinning like a maniac.

'But now, lets get our brooms, and get out there! We've been off for a year! We need to practise' said Fred, in an accurate impression of Oliver Wood.

They walked out onto the middle of the pitch, everyone climbed onto their brooms and rose, but Fred noticed Harry was still on the ground. He had climbed onto his broom, he had been looking forward to this moment forever, back on his broom soaring over the grounds of Hogwarts he felt completely at peace.

Everyone went about doing some practise on their own, due to lack of proper leadership, getting used to being back on a broom. The twins were practising with the bludgers, and Harry was practising dives. Ever since he'd seen Viktor Krum do the Wronski Feint at the Quidditch world cup, he's wanted to try it out on the pitch.

He pulled a few dives, and the last one caused Katie Bell to scream because she thought he didn't have time to pull out. Harry grinned as she saw Katie shaking her fist at him as his toes grazed the grass.

Training ended, and the all descended to the pitch, Fred and George acting as captain for the evening told them to be at the pitch on Thursday night. Everyone trooped off the pitch tired and cold, and Harry followed slowly behind, he didn't want to leave, he wanted another hour of practise. However he was soon joined by Fred, who was ushering him inside

'Lets go in, its cold out here' he said marching away Harry from the pitch, broom slung over his shoulder, 'Don't want our best seeker to catch a chill'

'I'm your only seeker' said Harry dryly.

'Well that is true. Not for long though! Soon you'll have a little protégé to take under your wing!' laughed Fred.

Harry grinned at the thought of Fred and George trying to 'help' the new beaters find their feet, whoever they were, Harry felt profoundly sorry for them.

'So, Have you got anything new for your joke shop?' asked Harry conversationally as they walked into the changing rooms.

'Oh yeah, me and George developed these excellent…' gushed Fred launching into a detailed description of their latest project '...were going to call them Divulgo Digestives' he finished proudly, gauging Harry's reaction.

'Remind me never to accept sweets or biscuits from you ever again' he said laughing.

'No need, do you think we'd damage our favourite patron?' asked Fred giving him a wink.

Harry laughed before asking curiously, 'Has nobody noticed you've suddenly acquired a 1000 galleons?'

'Not as yet, we put about a third of it into the family vault though if that's OK? Ginny really wanted dress robes for this year and books and all that' asked Fred in a worried voice.

'Of course its OK! I wanted you mom to take it all but she wouldn't. Consider it payback for all those years of room and board that I should have paid for' laughed Harry.

'You know mum loves having another mouth to feed. We told her it was our winnings from the World Cup bet that Bagman 'forgot' to give us last year. She didn't want it at first but I think she likes the thought of having gold in her bank now' explained Fred.

'I wonder what happened to Bagman in the end?' Fred mused out loud.

'He probably found the use in him knowing the gobbledegook word for pickaxe' laughed Harry dryly.

'We can only hope' muttered Fred.

*

It was late by the time Harry and Ron put down their quills from their transfiguration homework. Ron stretched painfully and Harry tried to massage some life back into his hand. They collected their things and trooped up to the boy's dorm. The climbed into bed sat back sleepily and quietly talked about Hagrid's impending return, and about the situation with Catalina's parents.

'Hermione's been spending every free moment with her nose in those books, trying to find a protection charm' whispered Ron.

Harry squirmed guiltily as he realised he hadn't given Catalina's parents another thought since the midnight meeting in Dumbledore's office. Ron yawned but continued to stroke Cupio who was sat on his stomach. Soon Ron heard Harry's regular breathing and he knew he must be asleep. Ron however was determined to solve another mystery. The situation between Harry and Catalina had been resolved, and now he was back to think about Malfoy's comments and Harry's while under the memory potion.

'I wish I knew what was going on with Catalina and Harry' he muttered to no one in particular.

Suddenly the hairs on Ron's arms stood on end, static filled the room and his vision went black. Then patches of colour returned and so did Ron's vision, but this time he wasn't in the dormitory, he was in a bright sun filled garden, in front of a large white house. There was no one in the garden but he could hear raised voices and he wandered over to the door, he hesitated but then pushed it open and walked in. A tall man with short black hair and brown eyes that were flashing with anger walked up to him. 

'I told you not to talk to him! Any of them!' he shouted at Ron, who stumbled backwards under the furious gaze of the man.

'I can't help it father! I can't ignore him! He's always around! They all are!' came the voice from Ron's mouth, but it wasn't his, though it sounded familiar.

'He's dangerous! You should know that, they all are, I sent you there with a promise from you. You promised not to get involved!' he shouted at Ron.

'I can't do anything about it! They're my friends' shouted Ron, who couldn't control the voice coming from his mouth.

'Do you know what happens to friends of theirs? Your putting yourself in danger, you're putting your mother and me in danger! Do you want to be responsible for our deaths?' shouted at man, who then lunged at Ron.

Ron backed away and turned to run, he spun round and saw a wall come from nowhere. Everything went black and Ron sat bolt upright in his bed. He was in the boy's dormitory, breathing heavily.

'Ron are you OK?' asked a sleepy Harry from the bed next to him.

'Yeah...just a nightmare' said Ron turning over to face the wall. 

Cupio crawled off the bed and settled on the carpet while Ron let out a shaky breath and replayed the nightmare, or whatever it was. He was wondering over the words trying to make sense of them. He was just falling asleep when he thought of something. He sat bolt upright in his bed, the voice, it had been familiar, now he knew where from. It was Catalina's.


	15. Fire and Ice

****

~*~*~ Chapter Sixteen ~*~*~

Fire and Ice

The next morning, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Catalina were sitting at the breakfast table, in unusual silence. Hermione looked around her three friends. Harry had a glazed look on his face, which usually meant he was thinking of something depressing, Ron and Catalina both had pale faces, and Ron was shooting nervous glances at Catalina.

First Harry now Ron, wasn't the poor girl ever going to get a time when someone wasn't worrying about the powers she had? Wondered Hermione to herself.

They had Defence against the Dark Arts first lesson, so they trooped in silence to the class and sat down. For the past few weeks they had been practising shields, and everyone's were becoming larger, and stronger, except Neville's, which still floated pathetically in front of his face.

'Right class, you know the drill, get into pairs and practise creating and breaking the shields' Professor Figg shouted over the sound of scraping chairs.

Hermione called Ron over to her, so Harry went a sat by Catalina.

'Want to be my partner?' asked Harry leaning on the desk.

'Err...sure' said Catalina glumly, allowing Harry to come and sit by her.

'Hey what's wrong?' asked Harry his grin fading, she'd practically ignored everyone all day and was looking a bit ill.

'Oh, nothing. I just –' she paused not sure whether to tell Harry what was wrong 'I just had a nightmare last night, left me a bit shaken'

'Want to tell me about it?' asked Harry staring at her intently.

'No' she said shortly, squirming under his gaze, praying he didn't press the matter.

'Don't worry about it, I have nightmares all the time' admitted Harry before replacing his frown with a cheerful grin, 'now lets see if I can break your shield in record breaking time huh?'

'Doubt it' she laughed, silently thanking whatever god was upstairs.

'_Expecto Protego_' shouted Catalina, who laughed as she pulled faces at Harry, who was completely oblivious.

'Hmmm, now let me see' said Harry thoughtfully stroking an imaginary beard.

He face lit up with a sudden thought, and he drew his wand, and flicked it at the shield.

'_Gelutus_' he said, grinning evilly. A white light hit Catalina's shield, except this time instead of sending out ripples, and making the shield dim, a white light hit the shield and spread across it creating a shining patch on it. He started firing the curse repeatedly at the shield, until it was completely white. Inside Catalina was getting nervous, and started to feel claustrophobic now that she had lost the ability to see through her shield.

Harry lowered his wand, then walked thoughtfully up to the shield, and touched it. This time no charge earthed itself on his finder, it just felt cold beneath his fingers.

'_Demolier_' he shouted and when the spell hit the shield it shattered into hundreds of pieces and Catalina stumbled out, pale faced and breathing fast.

Harry caught her just before the hit the floor, and sat her down.

'What's wrong? Are you hurt?' he asked anxiously.

'No – no I'm ok. I just got a little claustrophobic inside there' she whispered and gave an involuntary shudder.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean too' said Harry anxiety lacing his voice.

Professor Figg walked over quickly demanding to know what happened.

'Nothing Harry just broke my shield' said Catalina shakily 'Record breaking time as well!' she laughed nervously.

'How did you do that? One second the shield was there then the other it's gone!' said Professor Figg in surprise.

'Oh, I um, used a ice spell, and froze the fire on her shield, then I just smashed it with a shattering spell' said Harry looking at floor.

Professor Figg looked impressed, and to Catalina and Harry's relief she walked across the room to see what curse Neville's partner was suffering from.

'I didn't know you were claustrophobic' Harry commented as he helped Catalina get to her feet.

'Always have been, I hate being in really small spaces' she said quietly, shuddering again.

'Harry! Catalina, come and look at Ron's shield!' shouted Hermione.

They walked over and gazed at Ron impressive shield, It had become much thicker and now looked like the fire of Catalina's except it still just hovered from his face to his heart.

'Impressive' nodded Harry.

'Right, off you go people!' shouted Professor Figg.

'Uggghhh Double potions' groaned Ron disgustedly as his shield faded.

'Come on, let's face the music' said Hermione, quoting her dad's favourite song.

'What music?' asked Ron, bewildered.

*

Double potions was just as bad as they'd imagined. They were allowed to pair up together, but the potion they were brewing was difficult and Harry and Ron were having trouble.

'Remember class, unicorn blood is _extremely _expensive, I do not want any of you idiots spilling one drop of the stuff, got it?' Snape shouted at the class, who immediately eyed the unicorn blood vials, as if expecting them to suddenly fall over.

Harry gulped and gingerly picked up the vial, and measured out the correct amount of blood before placing it securely on the side of the table. He breathed a sigh of relief. And turned to put the blood into his and Ron's bubbling cauldron.

Catalina had just finished measuring hers and Hermione's unicorn blood, and with the vial in one hand, and the measured blood in the other, she lent past the cauldron to hand it to Hermione. Just then a piercing scream echoed through the dungeon, and the vial slipped out of her hand and smashed onto the cold, hard floor of the dungeon which began to smoke slightly.

The scream carried on echoing around the stone walls of the dungeons and Catalina looked over to see Harry heaped on the floor clutching his forehead. She had no idea what was happening but Hermione went flying out of the dungeon, and Ron ran over to Harry. Snape was ordering the class to move away, and for Ron to take Harry away. Her stomach froze and a gasp caught in her throat as she saw a look of intense pain on his face. His eyes were screwed up, but tears were streaming down his face.

Catalina wildly looked around trying to get herself to move, and do something, when she caught sight of Malfoy who was grinning and laughing at Harry behind Snape's back. Fury pounded through her, and she made a move towards Malfoy, hoping to wipe the smile of his face, when Ron gave a groan. Harry was hardly even walking now, and Ron was trying to drag Harry out. Catalina rushed over, and put Harry's arm around her neck and helped Ron carry Harry to the hospital wing.

'What's happening?' asked Catalina, who was scared out of her wits.

Ron didn't reply but tried to speed up, dragging Harry's legs along the hard stone floor.

'Was it the potion?' she asked as Harry's head lolled unpleasantly to the side.

Ron did say anything but adjusted his grip to hold up Harry better who seemed completely oblivious to what was going on around him.

'Ron what's wrong with him?' she asked angrily, she had never seem anything like this happen before

'You-Know-Who is doing something' said Ron through gritted teeth.

Catalina didn't understand, why should that hurt Harry? Was You-Know-Who here, hurting Harry? She swept the corridor with her gaze, half expecting someone to jump out of the shadows.

'Its not usually this bad' said Ron worriedly, his freckles standing out against his pale skin.

'What do you mean usually? This has happened before?' she shrieked at Ron.

Catalina looked into Harry's face, which was contorted with pain, and then she noticed something else. She reached up and brushed his fringe away from his scar.

'Ron' she whispered in a terrified voice 'His scars bleeding!'

'What?' said Ron sharply, stopping in his tracks.

'Its bleeding!' cried Catalina, her voice echoing around the stone corridors sounding frightened and alone.

'Merlin's Beard' Ron breathed looking up towards Harry's face, that was now covered with blood down one side.

'This is taking forever, were ages away from the hospital wing, and Harry's hurt' babbled Ron, not sure what to do.

'_Wingardium Leviosa_' shouted Catalina, who gently lifted Harry of his feet and started to pull Harry down the corridor.

Ron stopped and stared for a second, then ran after Catalina, whose wand arm was outstretched beckoning Harry towards her. There was a thin white cord stretching between Harry and Catalina, who started to speed up running towards the infirmary. Ron looked along the white cord of light, and followed it from Harry to Catalina's outstretched hand. 

The white light was joined to Catalina's fingers, and Ron realised what was wrong with the picture, Catalina was holding Harry up without her wand, she was holding up Harry with her hand.

*

Meanwhile Hermione was pounding along the corridor, ignoring the stitch in her side and breathing heavily. She didn't stop until she reached Dumbledore's office, where she skidded to a halt, shrieking the password. She took the moving staircase two stairs at a time, and wrenched the door open without even knocking and flew into the room.

'Pro – professor, Its Ha-Harry!' she shouted, Dumbledore stood up and moved swiftly out of door without a word.

Dumbledore and Hermione were running down the corridors, when they rounded the corner and saw Catalina, Ron and Harry ahead. Catalina was stumbling backwards with Harry drifting eerily behind her, connected by a white light to Catalina. Hermione gasped when she saw Harry, whose face was plastered with blood down one side and seemed to be unconscious.

'Bring him this way' Dumbledore directed at Catalina, who dragged Harry along after Dumbledore.

Hermione walked quickly behind Ron who turned to Hermione pale faced. 

'She's doing magic Hermione' he said stupidly.

'Yes I can see that Ron' she answered anxiously.

'I mean, without a wand' he added with a disbelieving look on his face.

Hermione gasped as she looked at Catalina, whose eyes were glowing, as white as the cord that connected her and Harry, with an look of intense pain on her face.

'She cant, she doesn't know how to' said Hermione trying to make sense of the situation.

'She's not supposed to, but she is' said Ron grimly.

*

Harry opened his eyes slowly, grimacing with the pain that the simple procedure had provided. Violent white dots danced in front of his eyes that gradually merged and became a blurred white ceiling. He moved his head from side to side, trying to unstiffen his neck, but instead was greeted with a wave of pain.

He gently lift his heavy arm to his head, and gingerly fingered his scar, or at least tried to. His hand bumped into a thick bandage, which was wrapped all around his head.

'Harry?' came an uncertain voice to the right of him.

'Uh?' Harry managed groggily.

'Harry its Ron, Hermione's here as well' came Ron's voice.

'Hi Harry, how you doing?' came Hermione's tentative voice from his left-hand side.

'Ok s'pose...tired' answered Harry thickly, who closed his eyes again and drifted off to sleep again.

Hermione and Ron stayed sitting there through lunch, just in case he woke up again, they were visited by Dumbledore whose face was solemn.

'I'm dreading telling him what happened' Ron told Hermione that evening, no wonder his scar started bleeding, After an attack like that I surprised he isn't in a coma' said Ron grimly.

Ron and Hermione stayed all evening, heads together talking, waiting for Harry to wake up.

*

Catalina however, stood in the doorway of the hospital too frightened to go in, but too worried about Harry to leave. Ron and Hermione hadn't spoken to her since she placed Harry in the hospital wing bed. She didn't really know what had happened, Ron and her couldn't carry Harry, so she decided to float him, she'd said the spell, Harry had rose up and followed her. The only thing she could remember was the pain, the spell connecting them was pulling pain towards her, taking it away from Harry.

Now she was hovering in the doorway, Ron and Hermione had shot her a look of pure fright when she looked at them, nervously eyeing her hands as if she was about to explode. So she had stayed in the doorway, in the shadows so they didn't know she was there. Harry had woken up briefly a few minutes ago, and Catalina's head had started pounding, but he'd gone back to sleep a few moments later, and the pain had subsided. Catalina remembered the pain while she was carrying him, and shuddered it must have been a hundred times worse for Harry.

Catalina walked back to the dormitory a few minutes before Ron and Hermione left, and lay down on her bed. Drawing the curtains around her she lay down and thought about the evening events. No one had explained to her _why _Harry's scar had caused him so much pain, it didn't make any sense.

Catalina heard someone walked softly into the dormitory, and pause next to her curtained bed.

'Catalina?' came Hermione's uncertain voice.

But Catalina didn't answer, after a few moments Hermione sighed and climbed into her own bed. Later on Catalina could hear the girls even breathing fill the room, as everyone fell asleep. However Catalina lay on her back staring at the ceiling of her four-poster bed. They should be thanking her, she thought angrily, she was only trying to help.


	16. Share and Share Alike

****

~*~*~ Chapter Seventeen ~*~*~

Share and Share alike

Catalina woke up early the next morning, it was still dark outside but she couldn't sleep. A dull throbbing in her head had woken her up, and she was wondering what was happening down in the Hospital Wing right now. She didn't even know if Harry was awake or ok or anything and she decided now was the time to find out. She slipped quietly out of bed and quickly changed into her Hogwarts robe, then bent into the trunk at the end of her bed. She pulled out a bundle of material that glimmered in the light, and looked as unsubstantial as water.

She shook out the fold of the material and swung it over her shoulders. As the cloak covered her she became invisible and slipped quietly out of the room unnoticed. She made her way down the cold, draughty corridors avoiding the ghosts that were patrolling the corridors.

She finally reached the Hospital Wing, and pushed the door open soundlessly. She immediately saw Harry's black hair against the clean white pillows. She saw he was asleep, so she just pulled a chair over soundlessly and sat down.

She sat down and looked at Harry, whose eyes suddenly snapped open staring right at her, which was impossible since she had her invisibility cloak on. She held her breath, watching Harry stared right at her.

'I didn't say you could borrow my cloak Ron' he said hoarsely, grinning at the air.

'Er...it's not Ron' said Catalina pulling the cloak hood down.

Harry stared at Catalina for a few seconds, obviously shocked to see her, or at least her head hovering four feet above the floor.

'Where did you get an invisibility cloak from?' he asked finally.

'My uncle' she whispered 'Long story'

'What are you doing here?' Harry asked trying to prop himself up on his elbows, but a wave of fresh pain, caused both Catalina and Harry to gasp in pain.

Harry leant back slowly, breathing through gritted teeth, and Catalina prayed he hadn't heard her.

'What happened?' asked Harry 'What's Voldemort up to?'

'I don't know' Catalina whispered looking fearful.

Harry looked like he was about to attempt to get up again, so Catalina stopped before causing them both some injury.

'Don't! Sit back down, Dumbledore'll be along later I expect, you can ask him there. Ron and Hermione were very worried' she said quickly.

'They always are' said Harry chuckling to himself, 'I've had worse that this'

Catalina sat in silence and began to realise just how stupid this whole thing was. Harry was staring at her in a kind of mixture of shock and humour, which must mean he hadn't figured out what she'd done yet. He didn't look at her with the kind of revulsion and fear that Ron and Hermione had. She looked around the room, searching for a topic of conversation, but came up with nothing and slumped her shoulders in resignation.

'I better go' Catalina whispered, then threw the hood over her head. Harry hadn't often seen people wearing an invisibility cloak, since he was usually inside one. He tried to follow the sound of the swishing of the material, but had great difficulty, so he propped himself up again.

'Ouch!' said two voices in unison.

The door opened and closed signalling Catalina had left, and Harry was left with only his thoughts, why was Catalina hurt?

*

Morning arrived and Dumbledore was his first visitor. He had a look of great sadness on his face.

'I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news' he begun his usually twinkling eyes sad and downcast. 'When your scar hurt you yesterday, Voldemort had launched an attack on a small wizarding community in Wales. There didn't seem to be any motive for the attack, but 12 people were murdered before the Ministry turned up. Voldemort had dissaperated before this time, and only a handful of injured Death Eaters have been captured and blamed for the incident'

Harry stared at Dumbledore unable to comprehend the loss of 12 lives in one go, and the fact that the ministry could still turn a blind eye to Voldemort actions.

'Now Harry, I believe your scar hurt so violently because of the sheer size of the attack Voldemort launched, and I have to commend Hermione for having the quick thinking to come and tell me straight away, her actions saved lives. No doubt there's another person you want to thank?' asked Voldemort who's eyes were twinkling again.

'Who?' asked Harry, clueless to whom Dumbledore was talking about.

'Catalina, it was her quick thinking that got you to the Hospital Wing in time, although I dare say you'll have a headache for a few days' he added smiling sadly.

'What is the Order doing about the attack?' said Harry refusing to be distracted by Dumbledore.

'There will be a meeting tonight, I don't expect you to turn up, but no doubt Ron and Hermione will inform you of what happens. Now, I have the Ministry to deal with, who are making things impossibly hard for us all, I hope you get better soon' said Dumbledore smiling warmly, but his eyes held a thoughtful look.

'Don't be to hard on Catalina, she was only trying to help' he said, then swept out of the room.

Again Harry was left with confusing thoughts which made his head pound.

*

Catalina was left without a partner in Transfiguration that morning. Ron was partnered with Hermione and even Neville had a partner, so she simply practised the spell on her own, and then made detailed notes, eliminating the need to do homework. Hermione and Ron hadn't tried to talk to her, but she had a suspicion this was because they were too worried about Harry and the attack, to even talk between themselves.

Lunch was strained as the three sat together, eating in relative silence. Ron and Hermione left early to speak to Harry, so Catalina was left on her own. She was soon joined by the rest of the Gryfinndor's but quickly finished and went to her next lesson, Herbology.

They were working in the in the exotic greenhouse, and were currently pruning a poisonous stickleback. Ron and Hermione walked in 5 minutes late, both looking worried and tired, they muttered their apologies to Professor Sprout. Hermione walked over to Catalina tentatively.

'Can I be your partner' she asked quietly.

'Er…sure' said Catalina moving over slightly so Hermione could reach the plant.

After working for a few minutes in uncomfortable silence, Catalina leant over to Hermione biting her lip before deciding was she wanted to know was more important.

'How's Harry?' she asked anxiously.

'Oh he's getting better, just a bit of a headache' said Hermione glad Catalina was talking to her.

'Yeah, I kno – bet' said Catalina rubbing her forehead distractedly.

'Nothing Harry can't handle, he's been through worse, once he lost all the bones in his arm!' Hermione told her, laughing at Catalina shocked face.

'Thank you' said Hermione quietly after a few moments of silence.

'What for?' asked Catalina.

'Helping Harry, I was just a bit shocked by seeing it and all, and then the worry about Harry and the attack. I didn't realise you knew how to control your powers?' explained Hermione.

'Does he know?' asked Catalina fearfully, wondering what Harry would think about her gift now she used it against him, after she told him she couldn't.

'Er no, not yet' explained Hermione.

'Ouch!' yelped Catalina suddenly, clapping her hand to her forehead. 

'What? What's wrong?' asked Hermione fearfully.

'Oh nothing I've had a bit of a headache all day, I er, I think I might go to the Hospital Wing' said Catalina backing away towards the door.

'Do you want me to come with you?' shouted Hermione at Catalina's retreating back.

'No don't worry' said Catalina running across the lawn to the entrance hall. She was worried about what had happened to make her head hurt so much.

She burst into the Hospital Wing and walked over to Harry's bed, the matron was leaning over him.

Madam Pomfrey bustled off into her office, and Catalina hurried over to his bed, now that she was here, she didn't actually know what she was going to say.

'Harry are you alright?' asked Catalina.

'Ugh' said Harry opening his eyes 'I just forgot about my head and sat bolt upright!'

'Oh right' said Catalina laughing with relief, 'I thought you were really hurt!'

'How –?'

'Miss Firelight? What are you doing out of lessons?' asked Madam Pomfrey severely.

'Oh…I…er…I had a bit of a headache, so - so I thought I wait here with Harry until you were free' stumbled Catalina avoiding Harry's gaze.

'Oh right, come over here then, let me take a look at you' said Madam Pomfrey bustling around Catalina.

Harry leaned up on his elbows to watch Catalina walk away, a fresh wave of pain pushed him back down, Catalina slapped a hand to her forehead, and Madam Pomfrey gave her a worried look.

Harry sat back down and started to think, Catalina was standing over by Madam Pomfrey's office, pulling her hair long, black hair away from her face. Coming to a decision, Harry quickly pushed himself up, he heard Catalina give an audible gasp. Frowning to himself for two reasons now, Harry understood what was happening, just not _why _it was.

Catalina was given a charm that was supposed to take away the pain of a headache, and she came and sat by Harry, just until lunch.

'So, How long have you had that headache?' asked Harry, gauging Catalina's reaction.

'Oh, it only came yesterday' she said avoiding his gaze.

'I had an interesting conversation with Dumbledore this morning' said Harry grinning inwardly at the look on Catalina's face, she looked like a trapped animal.

'Um, yeah?' she said.

'Yeah, he told me that I should thank you for something' said Harry smiling 'Know what for?'

'Oh well, I helped Ron bring you here' she started.

'Thank you for that then' said Harry thinking he'd resolved everything.

'Well, but something kind of happened on the way' she said avoiding his eyes.

'Oh yeah?' he asked lying back gently.

'Well Ron and me couldn't carry you so I decided to levitate you, Dumbledore found us and showed us the way. But I'm afraid Ron and Hermione were a little upset or angry with me for doing it' she said in a rush with a blush creeping up her cheeks.

'Why?' asked Harry bewildered.

'Well, because I didn't use my wand' she blurted.

Harry stared at her for a few seconds, then opened his mouth to answer. Hermione and Ron chose that time to come running in, looking ecstatic that Harry was finally awake.

'Hi Catalina, how's your head?' asked Hermione, peering closely at Catalina's face.

'Erm, fine. Sorry I've got to go. And er, apologise to Professor Sprout' said Catalina backing away from Harry.

She turned on her heal and ran out of the room, and Ron and Hermione turned back to look at Harry, whose mouth was hanging open.

'Looked a bit pale didn't she?' said Hermione worriedly.

'Yeah. So how are you?' Ron asked Harry, who on closer inspection looked a bit pale himself. 

'Uh, yeah I'm actually feeling ok now, just a bit of a headache, I don't think I'm going to make Quidditch practise tonight though' said Harry disappointedly.

Ron and Hermione grinned to each other, obviously Harry was feeling better if he was talking about Quidditch.

After a while, Ron and Hermione had to leave, and again Harry was left with his thoughts. Catalina expected him to be angry or something for trying to help him, but Harry was quite grateful, but a bit worried about the side effects.

He winced as he sank into his pillow, wondering if Catalina was as well.

*

Madam Pomfrey, who kept a constant eye on Harry, as if waiting for something else to happen, kept Harry in all the next day. But the day went smoothly, and Harry was counting the hours until he was going to be released, already sick of looking at the white walls, ceiling and doors.

The thing he wanted the most was to see Catalina again, and tell her he wasn't angry, but she never showed up, and Harry felt a little disappointed. He decided the first thing he was going to do when he got out, was to tell her not to worry about what happened, and then go to library and look at the huge book Ron had shown him. He wanted to know how long Catalina would be feeling his pain.

The next morning eventually turned up, and Harry was mercifully allowed to go back to lessons. He made his way into breakfast, and quickly located Ron and Hermione sitting down, but couldn't see Catalina. He got some toast and went and sat down by his friends.

'How you feeling Harry?' asked Ron thickly though a mouthful of scrambled egg.

'I've got a killer headache' said Harry gingerly fingering his scar. Madam Pomfrey had healed to cut, but it was still bright red and painful.

'Where's Catalina?' asked Harry after a brief silence.

'Don't know, did she tell you what happened?' asked Hermione fearfully.

'Oh yeah' said Harry and continued to eat his toast, grimacing through his headache.

'And…?' asked Ron.

'And what?' answered Harry.

'She used her magic, without her wand, on you!' said Ron pointedly.

Harry laid down his toast, licked his fingers clean and turned to look at Ron, who suddenly felt very nervous.

'So?' he said innocently.

'Harry, you were the one scared of her a few days ago remember?' said Ron.

'She was only trying to help' said Harry simply, whilst picking up his bag 'You ready?'

Ron sensibly held his tongue for once and he and Hermione followed Harry, who was walking slowly through the corridors towards Defence against the Dark Arts classroom. Ron shot Hermione a disbelieving glance, who merely shrugged her shoulders. Harry was definitely in a funny mood today.

They walked in the classroom and saw Catalina was already there, in deep conversation with Professor Figg. She had her back turned to Harry, she seemed to be discussing something of great importance, waving her hands emphatically every now and again. Professor Figg patted her on the back, then noticed Harry, Ron and Hermione standing in the doorway.

'More early students?' she laughed.

Ron simply shrugged his shoulders and sat down next to Hermione. Catalina remained with her back to Harry, but her shoulders stiffened when Mrs Figg spoke.

'How are you Harry?' asked Professor Figg seriously.

'Fine' said Harry, getting a bit annoyed at the numbers of times he'd had to answer that question. It must have shown on his face because she didn't press it further.

'Well today I thought we'd have a bit of a break from shields, and try some good old fashioned duelling, thought it might make a change' said the Professor cheerfully.

The rest of the class was starting to arrive, and Harry was still stood in the middle of the room. Unsure of whether to sit at the back with Catalina, or at the front with Ron and Hermione. Harry was starting to feel a little unsteady on his feet, and the ache in his head was increasing, so he quickly went and sat next to Catalina.

She had her head in her hands, and hadn't noticed Harry's internal struggle of choosing a seat. He fell down heavily in the seat next to her, taking the weight of his still shaky legs, his scar pains never usually effected him this bad. He groaned and fingered his raw scar.

'Bad head?' came Catalina's muffled voice. 

'About exactly the same as yours I would guess' Harry said, looking down into the mass of black hair.

Catalina raised her head and looked at Harry, trying to gauge the meaning behind his words.

'Really? I don't think an ordinary headache like mine can compare to what happened to you' she said eventually.

'Hmmm, yeah ordinary headache…' started Harry, who then jerked his head violently from one side to the other.

The whole class turned around when the heard a loud shout, to see both Harry and Catalina groaning holding their heads.

'What's wrong?' asked Hermione, staring at the identical masks of pain.

'Banged our heads together' Harry said through gritted teeth, he was really going to regret proving his point.

The class laughed, and Catalina looked at Harry, her cat's eyes flashing with anger.

'_What _did you do that for if you knew?' she asked rubbing her forehead.

'I dunno' said Harry holding his head 'Had to be sure I guess'

Professor Figg explained the day's lesson, and let the pair up and start, completely ignoring the fact that both Harry and Catalina didn't look like they were about the get up and start duelling.

Catalina was following the wood grain with her wand trying to avoid Harry's gaze. He had been staring at her for a while, and when she looked like she wasn't about to say anything fast, he decided to take the initiative.

'I have so many questions, I don't know which ones to ask first' said Harry as he ran his fingers through his hair absentmindedly.

'I have just one question' said Catalina turning towards him 'Could you please never shake you head again? Or preferably go to sleep for the next week?

Harry and Catalina burst out laughing at this, but quickly stopped because of the identical headaches.

'So does this usually happen to you? Because I have to admit it's a first for me' asked Harry.

'No never before' said Catalina thoughtfully, 

'I asked Professor Figg, she said it might be because of the, er circumstances. She thinks it might really be my fault. You see I've been having training to use my gift for years, and when you use magic on someone, you make a kind of connection with them' she stopped, looking at his direction, Harry just nodded and waved his hand, beckoning her to continue.

'The other day I was absolutely terrified about what was happening, I didn't understand it and nobody would explain it to me. Because I can usually control it, I don't often have times like back in the train compartment and when your scar hurt, where I loose control' she said sounding embarrassed.

'Well I don't know, I had control at the beginning, but I was panicking so much I wasn't concentrating. Then before I knew what was happening, I could feel the pain coming into me, it made me really panic, and before Dumbledore found us I nearly dropped you' she stopped, not knowing what else to say.

Harry just sat there, open mouthed, thinking of what had happened. When he thought about it, it was an incredibly brave and incredibly stupid thing to do.

'How long is it going to be like this?' asked Harry, wondering if it was just headaches Catalina felt, or every little injury.

'Dunno, I guess just until your headache goes, I've never really heard of it before' she shrugged.

That sat in silence for a while, laughing occasionally at the pairs duelling. Hermione had hit Ron with a tickling charm, and Ron had hit Hermione with a crying curse. It was quite comical to see Ron clutching his side laughing, and Hermione clutching Ron crying her heart out. Neither of them could get enough breath to stop the curses, and Professor Figg was busy trying to calm down Lavender whose hair had been dyed green. Seamus and Dean eventually came to Ron and Hermione's rescue.

'Thank You' said Harry quietly, watching Ron and Hermione walking over to them.

'It's ok' said Catalina, eyeing Ron, who was avoiding her gaze.

'Time for dinner everyone!' said Hermione with fake cheerfulness.

They all stood up, and Catalina and Harry had almost identical looks of pain on their faces. Just before they reached the library, Catalina made her an excuse and went back to the common room. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat at the Gryfinndor table for dinner, and Harry decided that it was the perfect time to set the record straight.

'Listen guys, there's something you should know about what Catalina did. I want you to understand what happened' said Harry seriously looking from Ron to Hermione.

Hermione nodded, and Harry launched into a detailed description of everything that had happened. When he'd finished he sat back, and looked at his friends.

'So her headaches…? Hermione began.

'Me' said Harry grimly.

'She was only trying to help' said Harry emphatically, directing it more towards Ron.

Ron seemed to be pondering the situation, but eventually he looked up and smiled.

'I understand'

'Well why don't you tell her that? She's thinks your scared of her!' asked Harry.

Ron didn't want to tell Harry that in a way he was.


	17. The Past

****

~*~*~ Chapter Eighteen ~*~*~

The Past

The next transfiguration lesson, Ron had partnered up with Catalina, and Harry and Hermione had watched them talking with baited breath. They were sitting next to each other, heads together and talking in low whispers, Catalina was waving her hands round, trying to explain to Ron. After about ten minutes they had to start their transfiguration project for today, and Ron and Catalina stood up to start. Catalina had her back to Harry and Hermione, but Ron faced them. He gave a small thumbs up sign that told them everything was ok.

Harry and Hermione gave each other a cheerful smile, and then Hermione brandished her wand, and started to turn Harry's hair blonde. They had fun all lesson giving each other new hair colours and styles. Ron and Catalina walked over and joined them just before the end. They had swapped hair colours, so now Ron had short black hair, and Catalina had long ginger hair.

'Blonde definitely isn't your colour Harry!' said Catalina giggling.

'Yeah mate, it doesn't match your eyes!' said Ron ruffling his hair.

'You sound like your mom' said Harry laughing at Ron's impersonation 'Anyway, I'd be inclined to say that black _doesn't _suit you!'

'You look like a Weasley with that hair Catalina' said Hermione giggling at Catalina's long, red locks.

'I don't know who you look like Hermione, I've not seen many people with black and white striped hair!' said Catalina laughing at the look of horror on Hermione's face.

'Harry! What have you done?' groaned Hermione fingering her striped hair.

'Nothing!' said Harry innocently.

'Ok class, pack up your stuff, and I want you to fix everybody's hair _before _you leave!' shouted Professor McGonagall, over the noise of the classroom.

'_Finite Incantem' _muttered Harry, watching Hermione's hair return to its normal mousy brown.

Everyone laughed with relief when their hair returned to its normal colour, and they walked into the Great Hall in high spirits. The sat down at the table and began to quickly eat their lunch before Divination.

'Guess what? Hogsmeade trip on Halloween!' said Seamus enthusiastically.

'Really? Great! I need to stock up on a few essentials' said Fred, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

'What's Hogsmeade?' asked Catalina.

'It's a completely magical community that's just behinds the Forbidden Forest. We get visits there every few months. It's got loads of shops there, you'll love it!' gushed Hermione.

Ron, Harry and Hermione launched into a detailed description of the shops and things they could buy in Hogsmeade, and before they realised what was happening, they were 5 minutes late for divination.

'Great' said Ron bitterly as they ran towards the North Tower, 'Just great'

*

That night Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting in the common room, each working on their own homework. Harry had to catch up on the lessons he missed while he was in the Hospital Wing, and Catalina was nowhere to be found.

After a while Ron and Hermione went up to bed, and Harry was started to get worried about where Catalina was when she stumbled in through the portrait hole.

'Where have you been?' asked Harry when she came and flopped on the chair next to Harry's.

'Dumbledore's office. Professor Figg told him about the headaches. He was _very _interested in them. I've been in there for about 2 hours telling him about it. Anyway, he'll probably want to talk to you about it' she said heavily.

'Why?' Harry asked confused.

'Dunno, guess he's just curious' said Catalina.

She pulled some parchment over to her, and started on her potion essay, they worked for a while in silence, and Harry was wondering why Dumbledore was so interested in the headaches. Finally they both finished and sat back in their respective chairs.

'Hey,' said Harry suddenly 'Last time we did this, I showed you my gift. You said that you'd show me yours when you could control it. But if you can control it now, why not give me a little demonstration?'

'Damn, thought you'd forget about that' laughed Catalina, flexing her fingers theatrically.

'_Accio parchment_' she shouted, hand outstretched. White light leapt from her fingers and touched the parchment clasped in Harry's hand. Harry felt the parchment being pulled out of his grasp, as it traveled along the path of the white cord towards Catalina's hand. She reached forward and grasped it, looking nervously at Harry's reaction.

'That was so cool!' said Harry looking at the parchment in her hands with amazement.

Catalina's face broke into a wide grin, as she handed him the parchment back.

'I've never shown anyone except my tutors and parents, I wasn't sure what you would think' she said quietly.

'Nah, it was really brilliant. That could be so useful, not like mine, how is that supposed to help me?' Harry said laughing.

'I dunno, you never know, one day you might be held hostage in a cage of snakes and then you'd be sorted' she said laughing.

'Do something else!' said Harry, suddenly looking very childlike.

Catalina obliged and held out her hand as Harry watched her fingers intently. A dull white glow began to build up which arced into the air where it hovered apparently touching nothing. Catalina was muttering some kind of oriental language under her breath and Harry watched in amazement as the string of white light danced backwards and forwards in time to the movement of her fingers.

She began tracing shapes in the air, leaving impressions of them in the air like sparklers did on bonfire night. She lifted the other hand and green light arced out as well, and soon the lights were dancing around creating a light show the likes of which Harry had never seen before.

Catalina laughed as the light wrapped around Harry, ruffled his hair and pulled the glasses off his face. Harry grabbed them back and watched open mouthed as she began tracing letters in the air. _Harry Potter, that gormless look does not suit you…_Harry burst out laughing, and watched as random things were lifted around the room by the traveling strands of light. Harry looked over to Catalina who looked like a puppeteer, controlling the movements of a cloak nearby to waltz around the room, give a bow and crumple to the floor.

Finally the lights began to dim, and the gloom of the usually cheerful room began to set in, looking plain and empty without the lights. The last of the objects were placed onto the floor and Catalina lost her look of control and poise and became flushed and embarrassed.

That was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen' whispered Harry as the impressions of light left his vision.

'Its simple really. I learned that when I was like 3, its nothing you couldn't do with a wand' she muttered, picking up her things and packing them away.

Harry looked speechless for a while and then regained his voice enough to choke out, 'Simple?'

She nodded and stood up, getting ready to go.

'Its amazing how you can picture something as being out of the ordinary in a world like this' said Harry shaking his head in amazement.

Catalina didn't say anything, but gave a small wave and walked into the gloom of the staircase.

Harry sat in the chair for a few minutes longer thinking about what he'd just seen. It was amazing but she could do magic without a wand, he thought that would be so useful, the possibilities could be endless. Harry picked himself up and yet again he was last one to get into the boys dormitory.

*

The next morning Harry made a resolution to himself to work hard on his shield, if he ever faced Voldemort again, if could be really useful, and he knew with certainty that he would see Voldemort again. So Harry decided to practice out of lessons on his shield, and also decided needed he needed some help.

Catalina was the obvious choice, her shield was nearly as strong as Professor Figg's was and she was even working on the image in the middle. That days first lesson was Defence Against Dark Arts, and Harry concentrated really hard on watching Catalina's technique before practicing it himself.

'Catalina? I was wondering if you would help me improve my shield?' asked Harry at the beginning of the lesson.

'Oh, sure' said Catalina, looking slightly embarrassed to be asked to be a tutor.

'Ok, right before you conjure your shield, you have to think really positive thoughts just like when you conjure a patronus. When the shield is formed you have to imagine it like...like your energy made into something you can see. Then you just have to imagine yourself pouring your energy into. It's best to imagine it like a glass of water, with you pouring in more water'

Head swimming with all the information, Harry summoned his happiest memory, winning the Quidditch cup in his third year, and produced his shield.

Harry watched Catalina through his shield giving him instructions, and tried to follow them.

'Right now summon your energy, like a ball of light inside your stomach or something, and push it into the shield' said Catalina, whose voice was slightly dulled by the shield.

So Harry tried imagining the ball of light, and then pushing it into the shield. It wouldn't work, he could imagine the light, but he couldn't put it into his shield.

'Oh! Sorry Harry, I have a thought. It'll be different for you, because I don't usually use my wand when I'm doing this. Right imagine the light, and channel it through your wand tip' said Catalina sounded sheepish 'Sorry, forgot'

'Ok' said Harry creating the ball of light then imagining being pushed through the wand tip, suddenly there was a red flash and then small flaming shield in front of his face, started to spread, moving down and wrapping around Harry.

Catalina was whooping and clapping loudly and Hermione and Ron rushed over to take a look.

'Wow Harry! That's brilliant!' said Hermione sounding pleased.

Harry who was just as excited as Catalina, let the shield disappear, and began a small victory dance.

'I did it! I did it!' shouted Harry punching the air.

'Very impressive Harry, but there's a long way to go, but 5 points to Gryffindor I think' a voice came from behind Harry, who spun round to see Professor Figg looking pleased.

Harry grinned back, and then went back to practicing with the shield. It was Catalina's turn next, and she created her full flaming shield, then spent about five minutes tying to direct the yellow sparks that had culminated in the middle of shield into some sort of form. Eventually Harry started to see it taking form, and he bent down and looked intently into the centre of the shield. Inside the shield Catalina bent down as well looking at the image from the inside of her shield.

'Looks like a cat or something' said Harry peering closely at the image.

Catalina chose that moment to banish her shield, and Harry was left looking into a pair of cats eyes.

'Oh!' said Harry in surprise toppling backwards and laying sprawled on the floor, Catalina started giggling at him, who was looking half amused and half angry.

'You scared the hell out of me then!' Harry laughed, looking into the cats eyes which where alight with mischief.

'Well then, mission complete!' she laughed.

'Hey Catalina, could you help Ron and me as well?' asked Hermione, trying to hide a smile as she saw Harry still sprawled on the floor.

'Yeah sure' said Catalina walked off towards Ron and Hermione.

By the end of the lesson, both Ron and Hermione had managed to create a shield that wrapped all the way around them. No one could produce images on them though, and it took a lot of concentration and energy to keep the full shield up.

They spent the next few days practicing their shields, going to lessons and doing essays, and before they realised it, the week had flown by and they had the weekend free. Harry spent the time on the Quidditch pitch, helping Ron practice for the upcoming trials. Ron practiced feverishly, desperate to make it on the team, aided along by Fred and George who were pelting him quaffles as he circled around the goal posts. Harry watched, impressed by Ron's skills, obviously having 5 brothers meant you can duck and catch flying objects. Harry looked on the trials with a feeling that they'd need someone very good to beat Ron, it was a dead cert. 

They trooped into the Great Hall that evening, sweaty and tired with their brooms slung over their shoulders. Harry carefully placed his broom out of the way on his lap, and began to hungrily eat his food. What with shield practicing and Quidditch Harry was running low on energy.

'Is that your broom Harry?' breathed Catalina, eyeing Harry's Firebolt.

'Yeah' said Harry, grinning with pride, his broom was his prized possession. 

'It's amazing,' whispered Catalina, looking down at the broom with a mixture of fascination and awe. 'I bought one when I was in France over the holidays its not nearly as good as yours' she said enviously.

'What type is it?' asked Harry, curious about the foreign racing brooms.

'Coup de Tonnerre,' she said in a perfect French accent, 'it's the latest type in France, but they're a bit behind England when it comes to Quidditch'

'Do you play Quidditch then?' asked Harry through a mouthful of potato.

'Oh yeah, I love Quidditch, What's your position?' asked Catalina.

'Seeker, what about you?' 

'Chaser' said Catalina with a dreamy look on her face.

'You should try out for the team, where holding trials for the reserves on Monday' said Harry, looking at Catalina, who seemed to be giving the proposition some thought.

'Yeah, maybe I will' said Catalina with a grin spreading across her face.

'Tell you what' said Ron who had been listening to the conversation 'You can practice with us, were going back out onto the pitch after this! See if you can get past me!'

'Your on' laughed Catalina.

*

Catalina broom was stunning thought Harry as she held it out for inspection. It was as highly polished as his Firebolt, but lacked the streamline look to its tail end. It was a glossy white colour, with _'Coup de Tonnerre'_ painted on the side in black letters, which the twigs matched.

The three rose up into the air, and Harry was playing the part of referee, watching Catalina scoring, and Ron blocking. There was no doubt about it Catalina was a good flyer, and Ron was a good Keeper. By the time the sun was going down, the score was an even 25 scored, 25 saved. Harry decided to end it there, seeing the identical looks of competitiveness on Catalina and Ron's faces.

They marched back to the common room, absolutely shattered. Catalina rushed upstairs to put her broom away, and Hermione bustled over to Harry and Ron. 

'Dumbledore want's to see you this evening Harry' she said quietly. 

Ron and Hermione gave him puzzled look, but Harry merely shrugged his shoulders. 

So Harry quickly got changed and made his way down to Dumbledore's office. He gave the gargoyle the password, then entered the room. None of the teachers were sitting in the chairs this time, there was only Dumbledore sat behind his desk, smiling at him, stroking a large black dog.

'Sirius!' Harry shouted rushing over the man who had just transformed back into his godfather 'What are you doing here?'

'Came to talk to you' said his godfather with a lopsided grin.

'Well I'll leave you two to catch up, I'll see you later Sirius' said Dumbledore walking out of the door, and magically locked it.

'What's all this?' asked Harry puzzled at the odd behavior of Dumbledore and Sirius.

'Well I know how angry you get when you get left in the dark about things, especially when it involves your parents. So I thought I'd share a few bits of information with you' said Sirius, with a grave look on his face.

Harry was taken aback with the odd comment, so he just leaned back in his chair opposite his godfather.

'Did you ever wonder what your father did for a living?' asked Sirius out of the blue.

Harry just stared back, unable to think why he'd never asked.

'Well James trained with Remus and me to become Auroras for the Ministry. As soon as we left Hogwarts we signed up together, and went to a special school set up by the Ministry in Wales. Our training was long and hard, but we all did well, especially Remus' explained Sirius.

Harry nodded dumbly, trying to take in the information.

'There was a teacher their, that didn't particularly like us, by the name of Charles Firelight,' at this Harry looked up sharply, but Sirius held up his hand to stop him interrupting.

'Now, as you can imagine, we had to er, keep Remus's condition a secret, because werewolves weren't allowed in the ministry. But this teacher found out, we tried to stop him telling the ministry, but he wouldn't listen. He went straight to them and told them about Remus, and they kicked him out' said Sirius angrily, flexing his fingers 'You might be able to tell I've sugar-coated this a little bit, it was a messy, messy business'

'But as you can imagine James and me were furious, Remus had lost his once chance to do what he wanted, because of that man. Remus never hurt anyone, was the top of every class, but he still got thrown out, with no money and nowhere to live. So James and me went to the Firelight's house one night, and we got a little bit er, violent with him, and Charles suffered a bit from James curses. Firelight tried to get us expelled as well, saying we were a danger to the public, but Dumbledore stepped we were allowed to stay' said Sirius, his eyes glazed as he recalled the memories.

'So anyway, your dad and me hated this guy. Then your parents went to be hidden in Godric's Hollow, which made James really angry because they were next door to his enemy. The night your parents were – that night, Death Eaters surrounded Godric's Hollow, they didn't know which house they were hiding in, so the Death Eaters went to the Firelight's house first, they managed to escape and got away with the Order of Merlin First Class, while your parents were killed' said Sirius bitterly.

'They disappeared after that, supposedly on a trip around the world, but they were just running away. See they were scared that the Death Eaters would be coming after them, and now they're back, and Voldemort is after them. And I have to _protect _them' spat Sirius, anger flashing in his eyes.

Harry sat there dumbly, trying to take in everything he'd just heard.

'So…?' asked Sirius waiting for Harry's reaction

'I don't know what to say, it's so much to take in' said Harry slowly.

'There's another reason I'm telling you this, I've heard about you making friends with the girl' said Sirius looking at Harry.

Harry's eyes snapped up sharply.

'And?' he said with a closed expression on his face.

'And, I want you to be careful, I knew her father, there's no way he'd let his child grow up without giving her a little extra _tuition_. I wouldn't be surprised if she's fully in control of her powers, I want you to be careful of her, she's dangerous' he said seriously.

Harry stared at Sirius for some time, the words Catalina and dangerous didn't go together, he was suddenly angry with Sirius, he didn't know Catalina at all, he was judging her on a label. Like Catalina's father did with Remus.

'So, what are you saying?' asked Harry quietly.

'Stay away from her' said Sirius looking at Harry intently.

'You cant tell me what to do, your not my father' said Harry angrily.

Sirius drew in a sharp breath, before steadying himself and answering calmly.

'No, but I'm the nearest thing' 

The silence lingered and tension hung in the air like a heavy cloud. Sirius realised this was a completely different side to Harry he'd never seen before, and watched his godson with a mixture of fear and curiosity. Sometimes Harry was so much like James that it was hard for Sirius to watch, and other times like now, the expression on his face would never have settled on James's without looking ridiculously out of place.

'No' whispered Harry angrily.

'No what?' 

'No, I won't stay away from her, she's my _friend_. I'm not just going to turn my back her because you don't like her' said Harry angrily standing up, wanting to be out of the room.

'Harry, I'm only trying to protect you, it's my duty as your godfather' said Sirius rising up as well.

'I don't need your protection from a friend' Harry spat, 'and in case you didn't notice I've lived 14 years without _you_, I think I know how to look after myself'

Sirius looked as if he'd been punched in the gut, and fought hard to control his own emotions. He knew Harry didn't mean the things he was saying - he was just angry, but the words still stung. Harry however, didn't let anything except blazing anger cross his face. Eventually Sirius had to look away from the eyes - reminded to much of Lily to trust his voice when he found it.

'She's got powers you can even dream of' Sirius said seriously, shaking his head.

'She's my _friend_ Sirius' Harry hissed, turning on his heal and striding towards the door. The door sprang open before Harry even reached the doorknob, and he walked through slamming it on the way out.

Sirius just stood there for a few minutes open mouthed, Harry hadn't really taken that news very well, he thought, not very well at all.

*

Harry stormed through the corridors, completely oblivious to where he was going until he arrived in front of the portrait of Fat Lady.

'_Fortudio_' he hissed, then pushed his way through.

He marched into the common room, and scanned the room, Ron, Hermione and Catalina were sitting by the fire. He was going to go and sit with them, but decided he was too stressed. 

'Hey Harry, what did Dumbledore say?' asked Ron looking up to see Harry walk in their direction.

Harry didn't even look at Ron, he just stormed up to the boys dormitory, slamming doors on his way. He flopped onto his bed and pulled the curtains around his bed, wanting to be alone to process his thoughts. He'd never fought with Sirius before, but Harry thought as he angrily pummeled his pillow, Sirius was being completely out of line, _he had no right._

Meanwhile back in the common room, Ron was staring open mouthed as Harry had just walked past them completely ignoring them with a huge scowl on his face. Everyone had jumped as they heard the boy's dormitory door slam, and flinched a few seconds later when they heard something metallic hit something stone-like. The ceiling shuddered slightly before calm settled again.

'He looked _really _angry' said Hermione in a worried voice 'What could have happened?'

Ron shrugged and stared at the staircase to the boy's dormitory, with a thoughtful expression face. 

'Do you think I should go up and talk to him?' asked Ron nervously.

'Err, better leave it a bit' said Hermione.

'Yeah' said Ron thinking about the look on Harry's face, he didn't want to get in the way of his friend when he was that angry.

*

Monday morning arrived and Ron woke up early, to find his friends bed empty already. Ron quickly got dressed and located his friend sitting by the fire in the common room. Harry was staring into the fire, completely oblivious to the fact that Ron had sat down next to him.

'You all right?' asked Ron nervously.

Harry nearly jumped out of skin and glared at Ron.

'Ron! You nearly gave me a heart attack, don't sneak up on me like that!' said Harry massaging his heart.

Ron shrugged guiltily and stared at his friend, who didn't look like he'd had much sleep.

'What did Dumbledore tell you?' asked Ron fearfully.

Harry gave a derisive snort, then looked at Ron, anger in his eyes.

'He wanted me to talk to Sirius' said Harry grimly.

'What? Isn't that good?' asked Ron confusedly.

'Huh!' said Harry staring at the fire 'He told me some stuff about my dad'

'What?' asked Ron.

So Harry launched into the full story of last night, telling Ron all about his dad, and Remus, and Catalina's parents. Ron didn't understand why Harry was so upset, Harry was always really happy about hearing more information about his parents.

'Is that why your so mad? You're mad at Catalina, because of her dad? That's stupid' said Ron more bravely than he felt.

But Harry merely looked at Ron and nodded his head emphatically.

'My thoughts exactly, but Sirius doesn't seem to think so' he said angrily.

Harry told Ron what Sirius had said at the end of the conversation.

'I can see why you're so angry with Sirius then' said Ron, understanding Harry's foul mood.

'He thinks he has the right to tell me what to do, he's only my godfather' Harry growled, 'and an absent one at that'

Harry sat for a few more minutes brooding when a thought suddenly came to him.

'Do you reckon Catalina knows about her dad?' asked Harry thoughtfully.

Ron memory wandered back to Catalina's dream, and everything Malfoy had said, and what Harry had said under the memory potion.

'Yes' he said so certainly that Harry shot him a curious look, 'She must do, er, remember what Malfoy said on the train, she was trying to shut him up then'

'Right' said Harry with a slight look of suspicion on his face 'What should I do Ron?'

Ron stared back at his friend, Harry just looked miserable now.

'If Catalina knows, then maybe you should ask her about it. I bet her dads giving her just as much grief being your friend. If not more seeing as your dad and Sirius must have whacked him one' said Ron laughing at Harry's smirk.

'Yeah' laughed Harry 'I'll ask her about it later'

*

At breakfast Harry and Ron were sitting together when Hermione and Catalina walked in. They were talking in low whispers when the girls sat down at the table. The both shut up instantly and had guilty looks on her faces. Hermione was relieved to see Harry didn't look half as angry as he did last night, although something lingered in his eyes that Hermione didn't like.

'What are you talking about' said Hermione suspiciously, narrowing her eyes as she looked at the guilty faces of each boy.

'Oh nothing' said Ron giving Hermione a warning look.

'Double potions first lesson, were brewing that really difficult healing potion today' said Hermione trying to cover up the awkward silence.

'Oh yeah' said Ron grimacing 'will you be my partner Hermione? I'm absolutely useless at potions'

'Yeah sure' said Hermione noting the pleading look in his eyes.

'You want to work with me Catalina?' asked Harry, speaking for the first time.

'Uh-huh' Catalina consented through a mouthful of scrambled egg.

They eat the rest of their breakfast in silence, and trooped down to the dungeons in the same state. They sat down at their cauldrons and waited for Snape and the rest of the class to turn up. Harry glanced over to Catalina who was staring at the wall ahead, as if transfixed by the stonework, he swallowed noisily and decided to get it over with.

'Did you know about my dad, and er, your dad?' asked Harry trying to gauge Catalina's reaction.

Her eyes snapped towards Harry, and she tried to read his face, but he had a closed expression that made her slightly nervous.

'Um, yeah' she said, wide-eyed. This is it, she thought, the end.

Harry sat there for a minutes in silence, trying to think of what to say, while Catalina's stomach plummeted at the look of anger on his face.

'But we can still be friends, can't we?' asked Harry hopefully.

Catalina looked at him is disbelief, and with a grin spreading across her face, nodded.

'Sure' said Catalina with relief.

They spent the rest of the lesson chatting about general topics ranging from Quidditch to the Hogsmeade visit at the weekend.

'If you don't mind me asking Harry, why were you so angry last night?' said Catalina curiously.

'Oh, Sirius was the one who told me. Seemed to think he had the right to tell me what to do. I mean, just because he didn't like your dad, doesn't mean I have to stay away from you' Harry muttered to himself, as if he forgot Catalina was even there.

'Like your really dangerous, like you'd really hurt me' he muttered under his breath.

'I think that scarab beetles ground up enough' said Catalina pretending she hadn't heard his dark muttering.


	18. Till Death Us Do Part

****

~*~*~ Chapter Nineteen ~*~*~

Till Death us do Part

The next few days passed quickly, and the four were looking upon the Hogsmeade trip with excitement. Harry announced that he'd buy everyone a butterbeer, and Hermione had promised a chocolate bar of their choice. The festive spirit was catching all they watched the calendar pass with agonisingly slow speed.

One thing that managed to take their mind off the excitement for Hogsmeade, was Ron, Harry's and Catalina's excitement for the Quidditch trials. Harry had to get there early with the rest of the team to set up the pitch. Five Gryffindor's turned up to try-out for the part of Keeper. Ron was looking green with nerves but Harry was full of confidence for him.

Katie and Alicia took it in turns to try and score against the keepers. Ron went up and managed to save 9 out of the 10 quaffles that were thrown against him, and Harry cheered loudly as Ron descended. Ron gave him a thumbs-up sign and went and sat of the bench. Next up was Seamus who only managed to save 5 out of his 10, and looked depressed as he descended and sat next to Ron. A second year, and two fourth years also tried up, but none of them were up to the standard of Ron.

After a brief discussion in the changing room, Ron was proclaimed the new Gryffindor Keeper. Harry ran outside to see the five Gryffindor's all sat on the bench waiting for them.

'You all did really well everyone' George said congratulating the players.

'But we've decided that Ronald Weasley is to be the new Gryffindor Keeper' shouted George in a pompous, mayoral voice.

Ron jumped up and punched the air, and then shook the hands of the other applicants. Then Fred and George walked up and slapped him on the back.

'We would also like the name Seamus Finnigen as the Reserve Keeper, if Ron should come to any grievous injury' laughed George

'God forbid' added Fred rolling his eyes.

Next the rest of the Gryffindor team had to be chosen, and all the potential seekers were sent Harry's way, who would be the one to test them. Harry groaned as he saw Colin Creevey walk up to him, with an excited look on his face.

'I want to be the Seeker, just like you' proclaimed Colin and he stood in front of Harry.

Harry turned round to see he only had one other applicant, which was a small second year girl called Rebecca Ellis. He took the two potential seekers on laps around the pitch, mentally giving them points for broom control, and taking them off for mistakes. Eventually he let out the Snitch and watched their techniques for searching. Harry could tell that Colin had studied his technique and basically copied it, floating high above the pitch, searching for the Snitch. In the end Harry had to grudgingly admit that Colin was far more talented when it came to being a Seeker than the young girl is. 

He took the two applicants over to the sidelines, and sat on the bench himself, watching Catalina darting back and forth across the pitch. She was flying just as good as she did in practise with Harry and Ron, and the Gryffindor Chasers were clearly impressed.

After a short time the rest of the team descended and Harry followed them into the changing room while the waiting applicants were sat on the pitch. 

'Ok, so were agreed. Seeker is Colin Creevy, Keeper is Seamus Finnigen, Beaters are Mark and Daniel Jameson, and the Chasers are Sarah Bell, Ginny Weasley and Catalina Firelight?' asked Fred looking down the list they compiled.

Everyone agreed, and walked back out onto the pitch to break the good and bad news. Soon there was a huddle of people dancing and shouting, and another that looked sad and despondent.

'OK everyone, meet on Thursday evening for your first training session' shouted George over the cheers and sobs.

Ron ran up to Harry who was beaming at his friend's good mood.

'I made it in!' he said laughing at his own good luck 'And can you believe it? Ginny got in as well! I didn't even know she was trying out'

'Neither did I, but Katie Bell said she was a brilliant Chaser' said Harry happily.

The two boys ran over to where Catalina was standing beaming, holding her French broom.

'I did it! I got Chaser!' she said excitedly.

'Well done!' said Harry laughing with his friends as they walked back to the castle.

'Wait till we tell Hermione!' said Ron happily

*

'Hurry up you guys!' shouted Catalina up the boys staircase, it was Saturday morning and it was the day of the Hogsmeade trip, and Catalina was impossibly excited.

Ron and Harry dragged themselves downstairs, looking disheveled and tired. There had been a party in the common room the celebrate the new Gryffindor team, and they had only got to bed when Professor McGonnagall had come up.

'How can you be so cheerful in the morning?' asked Ron disgustedly. 

'Oh shut up and hurry up. We need breakfast before we go!' she said dragging them out of the portrait hole, talking excitedly to Hermione.

They quickly finished their breakfast, and swung their traveling cloaks over their shoulders. The made the way out of the large gates guarding the school and walked towards the village. Ron and Hermione were walking behind Harry and Catalina, and they were all talking about the Quidditch teams chances this year, and plotting the downfall of the Slytherin's. 

They arrived at Hogsmeade, and gave Catalina the choice of where to go first since they had been so much the novelty had worn off. They trooped around the Zonko's, Honeyduke's, Dervish and Bangs and Gladrag's. Catalina went to buy a new dress robe with Hermione, so the boys went and bought their Christmas presents, and waited for them to come out, not wanting to even think about the Yule Ball yet.

They came out twenty minutes later looking all giggly, whispering between themselves.

'I think it's time for those butterbeer's I promised you!' said Harry leading the way to The Three Broomsticks.

They found a booth and Harry brought over the four butterbeer's. They sat and laughed and chatted between themselves, enjoying the change of scenery. It was getting late and the Hogwarts students were starting to leave, when a huge explosion rocked the floor of the inn, and brought plaster raining down on their heads.

'What was that?' shouted Hermione over the panicked voices.

A second explosion rocked the floor, and everyone looked around wildly, trying to find out what had happened. Harry was reached into his robes and pulled out his wand, brandishing it in front of him, the others followed suit. Suddenly Harry dropped to his knees, hands clasped over his forehead, moaning.

'It's you-know-who' said Hermione, pale face and white-lipped.

Ron and Hermione grabbed Harry, and all four of them started to move towards the door. All around them people were running wildly, shouting for friends lost in the gloom created by the dust whilst trying to get out at the same time. Various overturned benches were lying in their way that Catalina was pulling viciously out of the way with her wandless magic.

'Hurry up, hurry up!' shouted Catalina panicking.

They reached to doorway, and forced themselves into the street through the throngs of people packing the street. Harry groaned through gritted teeth as he stared around the packed village street, and what he saw made his blood run cold.

A solid wall of around 15 Death Eaters were walking down the centre of the village, wands outstretched and faces masked. A fireball erupted out of the end of one Death Eaters wand, and a third explosion rocked the ground as it hit a house. Harry stood up without unaided, he was still gritting his teeth in pain, and stared at his friends.

'What are we going to do?' he asked.

The crowd that had thronged into the street started running away from the Death Eaters, and would soon leave Harry and his friends exposed.

'Here' hissed Catalina, dragging her friends into a dark side alley. 

They crouched in silence in the shadows watching the line of Death Eaters pass them by, holding their breath as a Death Eater walked only 3 meters away from them slowly, cloak swishing along the floor. Catalina slapped a hand to her mouth as her breathing sounded magnified by the surrounding walls, and she forced her heart to slow down as it was thumping painfully hard against her chest. The Death Eaters passed from view, and they breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly Harry let out a piercing scream, clutching his scar, and rolling on the floor. Hermione shot a panicked look at him, but thinking quick put a silencing charm on him. Everyone sat, not daring to breathe, in case the Death Eaters would hear them.

Catalina sat on her hunches staring at Harry, who was lying on the floor, eyes screwed up in pain, mouth open in a silent scream. It made her sick to see it, but couldn't think of anything to do, her mind had gone totally blank.

Ron and Hermione were watching the entrance of the alley panic-stricken, as if waiting for something to happen. Catalina's eyes darted to and fro, trying to stay away from the image of Harry which was making her insides curl. They were hidden behind a group of dustbins just inside the alley entrance, and Catalina shuddered to think of how little protection lay between them and the Death Eaters. She'd heard all about them - the rumours were not contained within the borders of the island, and as far away as China and Russia witches and wizards were talking about the cruelty of the Death Eaters. Ron looked down to Harry who was still silently screaming holding his forehead. Ron breathed between his teeth and crawled to the entrance of the alley.

'Ron' Hermione moaned quietly 'Come back!'

'We can make a run for it, there's no-one it sight!' whispered Ron, his red freckles standing out harshly against his white skin.

They looked down at Harry, who wasn't screaming any longer, but his face was still screwed up in pain. Catalina stood up and heaved Harry up next to her, who stood up resolutely, although his legs were slightly unstable. Hermione removed the silencing charm, and Harry grinned shakily at her.

'Thanks' gasped Harry rubbing his forehead.

'Stick together!' Ron whispered as they crept towards the entrance.

They stood at the entrance and then bolted, running as fast as their legs could carry them along the deserted streets. The lack of noise was disconcerting, and Harry felt himself tensing up, as if expecting to be pounced on. He legs were aching so much and his head started to pound even harder, and Harry started to slow down. His felt a hand slip into his, and drag him along the street. 

They ran towards a bend in the road, and as they turned the corner the stopped in their tracks. They had walked straight into the path of 10 Death Eaters that were walking along the road.

'Harry…' said Catalina faintly, tightening her grip on his hand 'Harry, what do we do?' 

Harry cast around helplessly, trying to find a solution. Everyone was watching the Death Eaters move forwards, waiting for him to give the command. He hated the responsibility but had no time to think.

'We fight back' said Harry brandishing his wand, and saw the others follow suit.

'Harry Potter, we meet again, although I suppose this is for the last time' laughed a harsh voice coming from one of the Death Eaters hoods.

There was a brief silence, while the Death Eaters tightened ranks and glided towards them.

'Ah, and of course, Miss Firelight, what a pleasure to meet you at last' said the harsh voice.

Harry instinctively moved in front of Catalina shielding her from the group of Death Eaters that were closing in on them. The group of Death Eaters started laughing, cold and mercilessly at Harry's attempts to protect Catalina.

'So brave' said the harsh voice cruelly 'so willing to die, out of stupidity'

The four stared back, silently waiting for reinforcements to come.

'Well, no matter. I will take great pleasure in being the one to finally kill you Harry Potter. I dare say we can find a use for _you _later' said the Death Eater to Catalina.

The Death Eater stared around the group, eyes falling on Hermione, then with the slightest flick of his wand, screamed _'Crucio_'. Harry watched the scene unfolding in slow motion, the curse flew through the air aimed at Hermione, who was roughly pushed to ground by Ron. The curse hit Ron squarely in the chest who fell to the floor shrieking. Harry took only a second to make his move,

'_Stupefy!_' he shouted, pointing his wand at the main Death Eater. The curse hit him and the curse on Ron was lifted.

Then all hell broke loose, every curse and hex Harry could remember was thrown at the Death Eaters, beside him Catalina, Ron and Hermione were following suit.

Fireballs where whizzing past Harry's head, some hitting Death Eaters some flying off into the distance.

__

'Impedimenta! Stupefy! Impedimenta!' shouted Harry, backing away as the Death Eaters advanced forwards.

'_Finite Incantem'_ shouted the Death Eaters, reviving their comrades.

Every curse or hex Harry threw, was soon disabled by the Death Eaters around him, and none seemed to last long or have any effect on the approaching wall of black cloaked people. Harry carried on throwing curse's however while looking around at his friends. Catalina was almost deathly pale, but was resolutely throwing fireballs into the crowd of oncoming Death Eaters. Ron was trying to hold off three Death Eaters who seemed to have broken away to deal with him and Hermione. Harry watched as a ball of black light flew threw the air towards Hermione, but didn't have chance to scream a warning to her. 

Harry saw Hermione fall to the floor, face pale and eyes closed. The Death Eaters swept past her ignoring her, until she was hidden behind the wall of black cloaks. Ron ran forward, and launched himself two Death Eaters, lashing out wildly. His fist connected with two Death Eaters chins, before they retaliated. Ron kicked and hit, tearing at the masks on the faces of the Death Eaters, wand forgotten.

Harry saw Ron disappear in a huddle of Death Eaters that surrounded him, and only Catalina and Harry were left, greatly outnumbered. They were rapidly backing away whilst throwing their hexes, completely alone in the usually bustling town. Why did no one come to help them?

One Death Eater stepped forward and cried _'Crucio_' wand aimed at Harry's chest.

Harry crumpled to the floor shrieking with the pain of the curse, completely oblivious to everything that was going on around. Catalina was the only one left standing, Ron and Hermione had disappeared moments ago, and now Harry was lying on the floor at her side.

One tall Death Eater glided towards Catalina, and came to a stop in front of her. He reached over and grabbed her arm, gripping in tightly.

'You will only ever be asked this question once' said the harsh voice in Catalina's ear, 'Join us. You're not willing to give up your life for these _people _are you? You'll amount to more than that' Catalina tried to wrench her arm out of the man's grasp on her arm, but he held to tightly.

'I can give you power you so desperately want' he hissed in her ear.

'No' whispered Catalina between pursed white lips, looking round for someone, anyone to help her.

'Maybe you need a little persuasion' said the man, holding out his wand until it floated just above her heart.

'You see Miss Firelight, I just want to make you see sense' said the man jerking his wand.

Then Catalina felt it, her heart was contracting, being squeezed painfully as if by an invisible hand. Her chest burned, and drawing breath became even harder.

'There's no use in fighting us, we'll only come after you, we'll get you in the end' said the man, laughing at the pain contorting the girls face.

Dots of white light exploded in Catalina's eyes, and she her legs gave way as her heart was squeezed even harder. She was only being held up by the man tight grip on her arm, who pushed his masked face up to hers.

'And after we find you, we'll find your family, your friends. What is there to loose by refusing us? I'm offering you power.'

Catalina nodded and the world stood still. The invisible hand that was squeezing her heart released its grip, and she was pulled to her feet.

'You agree?' the man asked, excitement lacing his voice.

'I would...never...join scum like you' she hissed between gritted teeth, as she pulled back an arm and launched a fireball straight into the mans face, who fell backwards screaming in agony.

Catalina dived at Harry, who was still lying on the floor writhing in pain. She grabbed hold of his hand, and closed her eyes concentrating on drawing the pain out of Harry, she knew she had succeeded when a dull pain started welling up inside her, because stronger and stronger until she had to gasp for breath. She saw the Death Eater controlling the curse of Harry, and aimed a fireball at him, which hit the Death Eater in the stomach, setting alight to his robes. 

Her connection was broken when a foot came out of nowhere and kicked her in the stomach. She rolled over the floor completely winded and unable to draw breath. She looked up to see Harry, who was already getting unsteadily to his feet. Sweat was pouring off him, but he stood up and surveyed the scene. When he saw Catalina lying on the ground he raced over to her, a picked her up, standing her on her feet, willing her to take deep breathes. 

Catalina had never felt terror before, but now the new emotion was washing over her in waves, her hands were shaking, her heart was thumping against her ribcage, and her aching sides were refusing to draw in breath. Harry looked at Catalina's state, and whilst still holding her up, turned resolutely and faced the Death Eaters again.

__

'Serpensortia!' Harry yelled, and watched as a large black snake uncoiled from the end of his wand falling to the floor.

'Kill them' he hissed at the snake, which slithered forward towards the first Death Eaters, slithered up his legs, and coiling it thick black body around his chest.

The remaining Death Eaters regrouped and walked towards Harry who was dragging Catalina back towards the wall of a large white house.

'Harry!' whispered Catalina, terrified as their backs hit a cold, brick wall.

'Don't' worry' said Harry desperately, clasping Catalina's hand, 'We'll be alright'

'What are we going to do?' she whispered, terror coursing through her veins, turning to Harry.

'Shields?' said Harry desperately, it was the only thing he could think of.

__

'Expecto Protego!' shouted Harry and Catalina together, who were both engulfed in a red ball of fire.

The Death Eater stood back in surprise for a moment watching the red ball of fire engulfing the two teenagers, then let out a roar of fury. The remaining Death Eaters walked forward and started throwing curses at the shield that was already starting to dim.

'We need more power' whispered Catalina desperately, pushing her hand against the wall of their shield, grimacing with pain.

Harry followed suit, wand tip resting on the shield, he poured as much of the white energy light as he could, but exhaustion was setting in and he was already loosing his concentration.

The Death Eaters came up the front of the shield glaring at the wall of fire, prowling around the edges. Harry allowed a large spark to jump away from the wall of fire, and earth itself on the Death Eater, who was thrown backwards onto the floor.

Inside the shield, Harry still clutching Catalina's hand, was growing weary and his power was fading. There was strange white light engulfing the hands of the two teenagers, who didn't notice it because of the concentration it now took to hold the shield up. 

'It's only a shield' hissed one, pushing his way to the front of the group of Death Eaters 'It can be broken with an unforgivable!'

The Death Eater brandished his wand, and Harry gave Catalina's hand one more squeeze before he uttered his final curse.

__

'Avada Kedavra!' shrieked the masked Death Eater.

An explosion of brilliant green light filled air around the two teenagers and the Death Eaters where thrown back off their feet with the force of the explosion. Nothing but a brief scream was heard, before the body's of two lifeless teenagers were thrown, crumpled on the floor, still holding hands.


	19. A Problem Shared

~*~*~ Chapter Twenty ~*~*~

A Problem Shared

Ron woke up to find he had great difficulty drawing in breath, he felt there was a great weight pressing down on his stomach. He groggily opened his eyes, to see a cloudy grey sky above him. Slowly memories started to resurface, the four of them sitting in the Three Broomsticks, and the explosion, the duel, and then Hermione. Ron struggled to sit up, pushing violently at the weight on his chest, he looked down, and saw a pair of wide staring eyes looking back at him.

It was a man, with a Death Eater mask torn off his face lying across Ron, with a snake coiled around his body, dead. Ron gasped and struggled from out from underneath the dead man frantically, who stared back accusingly at Ron. Ron backed away taking in the scene around him - 3 black robed figures lay sprawled across the floor all dead. He hastily staggered backwards, and tripped over another prone body and went tumbling backwards. He looked down to see it was Hermione lying on the floor, eyes closed and face pale.

'Hermione!' Ron shouted, crawling over to Hermione's limp body.

Ron was shaking uncontrollably as he reached out and hovered his hand over Hermione's mouth and nose. Ron felt a small breath tickling the palm of his hand, so he reached down and started to shake Hermione by the shoulder.

'Hermione! Wake up! Wake up Hermione!' shouted Ron, looking at her pale face.

Hermione made a small intake of breath, before her eyes fluttered open.

'You're alive!' shouted Ron pulling Hermione into a hug of relief.

'Wha – What happened?' asked Hermione faintly, trying to sit up.

'We were in a duel, remember? But your safe now, were safe' said Ron helping Hermione unsteadily to her feet.

She took a few steps, and decided that she could walk on her own.

'Where's Dumbledore? Why isn't anyone here?' she asked worriedly.

'I don't know let's just get out of here' said Ron leading Hermione away from the debris, suddenly Hermione gripped his arm painfully hard.

'Where's Harry? Where's Catalina?' she said turning terrified eyes towards Ron.

Ron's face paled as he took in his surroundings, Harry and Catalina were nowhere to be seen.

'Where are they? I can't find them!' shrieked Hermione, limping across the rubble.

Ron ran down the street, looking for any sign of his two friends, the last thing he'd seen before he had been knocked out was them backing down the street. Ron ran as fast as he could, feet pounding on the cobblestones, when he came across more bodies of Death Eaters. He looked around and what he saw made his blood run cold. Harry and Catalina were lying sprawled across the floor a few metres away from the body, both unconscious and pale. Hermione limped up to Ron, and gave a small scream when she saw the body's, rushing towards them.

Harry and Catalina were both deathly pale. Harry eyes were shut and his face had a look of calm. Blood had trickled down from a wound on the side of his head, and dried on the side of his face. Catalina looked almost identical, with a small pool of blood where her head lay.

Ron knelt down next to Harry, feeling his wrist, whilst Hermione did the same to Catalina. Ron looked up slowly to Hermione, who had tears streaming down her face.

'I – I cant feel a pulse' said Ron unbelievingly looking down into his best friends face.

Hermione shook her head as well, unable to speak.

'They're dead? They can't be' said Ron not believing what he was saying, tears pouring down his face as well.

At that moment there was the sound of many small 'pops' and the swish of cloaks, people were apparating all around Ron and Hermione who just sat next to their friends crying in each others arms.

'Harry!' came the strangled cry of a man behind Ron, who roughly pushed past him to look down in the teenager's peaceful face.

'Ron what happened?' asked the man, shaking Ron by the shoulders.

'He's dead, he's dead Sirius' moaned Ron shaking his head.

*

Ministry officials and members of the Order of the Phoenix milled through the devastation of the once peaceful village. Dumbledore hurried over to where Sirius was sat, staring at the body of someone lying on the floor. As Dumbledore got closer he realised it was Harry and Catalina lying spread eagle on the floor, clutching each other's hand. Ron and Hermione were sitting to one side, tears pouring down their faces as they stared at the bodies. 

Dumbledore swept passed the grieving figures, and knelt down next to Harry, staring intently at the boy's face.

'He's dead' said Sirius with no emotion in his voice, eyes staring at the pale faces.

Dumbledore looked again at the girl then back to Harry, both faces had identical looks of peace lying on them, but they were both pale and cold.

Dumbledore reached down and lifted one of Harry's eyelids. His black pupil reacted to the light and shrunk in size, as did Catalina's when he repeated the experiment.

'No, they're not' said Dumbledore softly 'But very nearly' 

*

The limp bodies of Harry and Catalina were gathered in the arms of two men from the village and taken to the hospital wing whilst Dumbledore surveyed the wreckage of Hogsmeade. Sirius followed the procession of his godson in a trance-like sate. Not noticing what was happening or where they were going. Dumbledore had prised Harry's death grip from Catalina's cold fingers and transported them back to Hogwarts. They were laid in identical beds in the Hospital Wing.

Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts, and anxiously swept down the corridors and into the Hospital Wing. Harry and Catalina were sitting side by side, both with identical looks of peace on their faces. He rushed over to Harry's bed, which was surrounded by his blank faced friends.

'What happened?' asked Dumbledore to Ron for the third time, who still had a glassy eyed expression.

'The Death Eaters came...we tried to get away...we duelled...I got separated from them' said Ron disjointedly.

It seemed no one was around the bear witness to whatever it was that caused Harry and Catalina, to slip in to the comatose state they were in.

Days past and neither Harry or Catalina made the slightest move, neither of them were marked, save for identical lightning bolt scars that ran across the palms of their hands. Hermione and Ron were kept in the Hospital Wing for three days, and were treated for shock and slight head wounds. After a few days they were allowed out and they started to return to lessons, spending every free moment of time at the side of Harry and Catalina's bedsides.

A steady stream of visitors visited the two still figures. Hagrid, who had arrived in the evening of the attack, howled in pain and anger when he heard the news, and did not return to teaching. Sirius kept a constant bedside vigilance, usually in his dog form, staring sat Harry's pale face.

'If he – he'll go, hating me' sobbed Sirius, whose last meeting with Harry was torturing him.

Dumbledore did his best to console Sirius, and every other close friends of the duo, but felt that with every day that passed, his optimism grew weaker.

'What's wrong Professor? Why won't they wake up?' asked Ron for the fiftieth time.

'Ron, judging by the scars on their hands, it seems the Avada Kedavra curse was used on them, how they survived it I do not know. I don't know when or even if they will ever wake up' said Dumbledore heavily.

Ron looked back to his best friend, and sighed.

'What's happening to them? What do they see? Can they hear us?' asked Ron fearfully.

'That I do not know. They may be able to hear us, they may not' Dumbledore replied.

*

Days of no news passed, and turned into weeks. Harry and Catalina had been lying in the same position for nearly and month, and no spell, potion or incantation could bring them back. News of the fact Harry and Catalina were lying in the Hospital Wing as if dead spread through the school like wildfire, and people had taken to avoiding Ron and Hermione who were constantly pale and reserved.

Whispers and finger pointing followed them as they walked through the corridors. The Slytherin's were privately celebrating the downfall of Harry Potter and Ron had received three detentions from Professor Snape for attacking Draco Malfoy in class.

When Hermione and Ron weren't in lessons or at the nearly daily Order of the Phoenix meetings, they could be found at their friend's bedsides, silently praying they would soon wake up.

They stayed late into every evening, until they were shoed out by Madam Pomfrey, who had set up a small table for them to do their schoolwork on. They waited, never giving up hope that they would both wake up.

*

Harry and Catalina hadn't moved a centimetre on their own since they were brought into the Hospital Wing over a month ago. Madam Pomfrey was walking through the ward, checking the beds before the lights were turned out. She walked over to Catalina's bed looking down into the pale face, looking even more ghost-like against the waves of black hair that lay beneath her. She was just about to go to check on Harry in the next bed, when she saw Catalina's eye's move beneath her lids. Unable to contain her excitement, Madam Pomfrey rushed over to Harry, and saw that his eyes were also restlessly flicking from side to side beneath his pale lids.

Quickly grabbing a passing student and telling them to fetch the Headmaster at once, Madam Pomfrey bustled over to the two teenagers. Both sets of eyes were moving in identical patterns, restlessly flicking from side to side. No expression passed over their pale features, but Madam Pomfrey was optimistic that they would awake tonight.

Dumbledore ran into the room, cloak sweeping out behind him, looking from Catalina to Harry.

'Poppy?' he said questioningly.

'They're waking up' she told him as the two teenagers gave identical gasps.

*

Harry's eyes were heavy, but his forced them open, pain exploded in his head as bright white light swam in front of his eyes. He gave a gasp drawing breath painfully into his body. He squeezed his eyes shut against the harsh colours invading his eyes.

'Harry?' asked a voice from above him, Harry forced his eyes open and saw a blurred face hovering over him.

'ugghh' Harry groaned, unable to get any audible sound to come out of his throat.

'Harry, your OK now, your safe now' said the distant voice.

Harry's head pounded with the effort of keeping his eyes open, so he gratefully sunk into the darkness that was threatening to envelop him.

In the next bed Catalina had awoken with a small gasp and was in much the same state as Harry, unable to speak, and too exhausted to keep her own eyes open.

Dumbledore stood back from the two teenagers, who had been awake for less that half a minute, but still awake he thought happily.

He sent two Gryffindor First Years to get Ron and Hermione who would want to be with them when they woke up again, then sat back in the hard hospital chair, waiting.

*

Harry was aware of a great pain in his head, and he tried to slip back into a peaceful sleep, but the pain was growing until he couldn't ignore it. He gently opened his eyes, studying the white ceiling above him. His mind replayed the last few days, he could remember going to Hogsmeade, and fighting Death Eaters, and being inside the shield with Catalina, and then darkness. Panic squeezed his heart, where was Catalina?

'Catalina?' he said thickly through his dry mouth, unable to move his head.

'Harry! Harry are you awake?' asked an excited voice.

Harry looked up to see a blurred face looking down into his eyes.

'Mione?' he asked groggily.

'He's awake, Madam Pomfrey, he's awake!' came the voice to his left side, and Harry tried to turn his head, but found his neck was too stiff.

Madam Pomfrey bustled over, and came into Harry's line of sight.

'How are you feeling Harry?' asked the slightly fuzzy voice.

'Where's Catalina?' murmured Harry desperately.

'She's OK, she's right here' said Madam Pomfrey 'Now how are you feeling?'

'Head hurts' said Harry thickly

'Well just sit back and rest, you gave us quite a shock there. The Headmaster will be here in a moment, and I believe there is some people here that want to speak to you' said Madam Pomfrey disappearing from Harry's view.

'Harry?' came Ron's voice uncertainly, who lifted Harry's glasses and placed them on his nose.

'At least you can see the ceiling properly' said Ron trying to sound cheerful but his voice was shaking.

'What happened?' asked Harry through gritted teeth.

'We don't know, when me and Hermione came round we just found you and Catalina lying in the middle of the street…We thought you were dead!' said Hermione, choking back a sob.

'Don't worry, I'm OK now' said Harry grimacing 'How's Catalina?'

'She's OK, she woke up at the same time as you last night, but she's still sleeping at the moment' said Ron glancing over to her bed.

'Listen Harry, we've got to go, were 10 minutes late for potions already' said Hermione anxiously.

'Glad your OK Harry, see you soon' said Ron, moving out of Harry's view.

Harry sat grimacing against the waves of pain, which washed over him every time he tried to move. Catalina hadn't made a sound and Harry was feeling inexplicably worried about her. He spent a few minutes gently moving his stiff neck to his right side, eventually Catalina's pale face swam into view, surrounded by a mass of black hair. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she was breathing regularly, even if she hadn't opened her eyes. Keeping his head in that position he closed his eyes, and welcomed the sleep, which took over his body.

*

Harry woke up much later on to see that he was just in time to see Catalina wake up. He stared across the space watching Catalina flick open her eyes wincing in pain. Harry's own head started pounding even fiercer against his temple, but he could see Catalina was obviously scared and didn't know what was happening.

'Catalina? Its Harry, you're OK. We're in the Hospital Wing' he explained in a strained voice.

'What happened?' she asked, and Harry was unpleasantly surprised to hear how weak her voice sounded.

'I don't know' he admitted, then saw Madam Pomfrey bustling over to them accompanied by Professor Dumbledore.

'Hello Harry' said Dumbledore as Madam Pomfrey checked over Catalina 'I'm glad to see you finally awake, we were really worried about you. Can you remember anything that happened?'

Harry launched into a slow description of what happened at the Death Eater attack, telling him about the snake and the shield, pausing every now and again to take breathes and wait for each fresh wave of pain to subside. When it came to the end of the attack Harry stopped, not knowing what happened.

'...and he shouted Avada Kedavra, and this bright green light hit our shield, which shattered, and I can only remember a scream before everything went black, then I woke up here' finished Harry still looking across to Catalina who had her eyes closed shut.

'What happened?' asked Harry confusedly, 'Why didn't we die?'

'It is my guess Harry, that when you created the shield, you also invoke some more powerful, ancient magic. You said yourself that you were trying to protect Catalina when you first ran into the Death Eaters. I believe that because you were willing to die for each other, coupled with the fact you had merged your shields, caused the shield to deflect most of the brunt of the curse, rebounding it onto the Death Eaters around you. You and Catalina were very nearly killed by the curse, in fact we all thought you dead for a short time' explained Dumbledore looking into Harry's eyes with concern.

'Now I can see you need your rest, it'll be a long time until your out of this bed again, hopefully you'll make it out for the Yule Ball though' said Dumbledore with his eyes twinkling, 'I know how much you enjoy those. Now rest'

*

The days passed slowly for Catalina and Harry, who were confined to their beds, unable to move for the terrible headaches they suffered from. Madam Pomfrey would come to each of them in turn every morning and stretch and flex their stiff muscles. It was daily torture for Harry, who was sat back in his bed wincing as Catalina's arms were bent and stretched. The pain equally shared by some mysterious force invoked by Catalina's wandless magic. Time passed slowly and they soon learned with a shock that it was the 5th of December, and they'd lost over a month of time whilst in their coma's.

'Eye spy with my little eye, something beginning with W.B.' said Harry drowsily.

'White bed' said Catalina instantly, 'Eye spy with my little eye, something beginning with W.W.'

'White walls?' groaned Harry at the futility of the game.

'How did you guess?' laughed Catalina.

'Call me Mr. Physchic' said Harry, trying to push himself up on his elbows, but collapsed groaning.

'Would you please not do that? If not for your sake than mine?' said Catalina through gritted teeth, as she also massaged her head

'How long is this going to take?' asked Harry angrily, 'I bored of doing nothing!'

*

Every day though Harry and Catalina were getting stronger, and soon they were sitting up in bed, and even gingerly padding around the Hospital Wings bare floor, much to the disgust of Madam Pomfrey.

Nearly everyday someone came and visited the pair. First Hagrid, Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore. Ron and Hermione visited at every spare chance, and Order of the Phoenix members visited to give Harry quiet updates on the situation, occasionally bringing him a newspaper. One that was saved from the day after the attack was the most interesting to Harry.

__

Ministry Officials are today clearing up the wreckage of the events from yesterday in Hogsmeade. A group of masked wizards attacked the small village yesterday around 6 p.m. No motive for the attack has been discovered and it seems a break out from St Mungo's psychiatric ward near the area is being blamed. The masked wizards proceeded to destroy homes and attack the inhabitants of the village, including some students of nearby Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 

7 bodies of the masked wizards were recovered from the scene, and are being identified by ministry officials. The bodies of 3 Hogsmeade villagers were also recovered and have been named as Ellia McCarther, Elizabeth Huckle and John Greene. Two students from Hogwarts were also caught up in the incident, and are being treated at the schools hospital. They are said to be in a critical state, but have not yet been named.

The Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge gave a brief statement this morning. 'We are obviously shocked at the unexpected ferocity of these attacks. The group of escapees caused mass destruction that has not been seen since the Death Eater attacks at the time of you-know-who. But I warn people not to panic, this is an isolated attack, and our thoughts and prayers go to the families and friends of the deceased, and the two Hogwarts students.

Harry had handed the paper to Catalina who read it in disbelief.

'Escapees from St Mungo's psychiatric ward?' she said faintly.

'What a load of rubbish! I still can't believe that Fudge is managing to brush off these attacks! Those people had Death Eater written all over the forehead! And he still chooses to ignore it' said Harry disgustedly.

'It can't be for long, people will soon see the similarities, and then Fudge will be sorry' said Catalina, lying in bed staring at the ceiling. 

'Your right you know' said Catalina after a while.

'What about?' asked Harry

'It's really boring being bored' she groaned.

*

The next day Ron brought in Harry's wizarding chess set, and the days were spent exercising their minds, instead of their limbs. Madam Pomfrey grudgingly allowed them to draw a table between both beds and now they sat with their legs swung over the side of the beds to play. 

Harry had noticed a few days ago that a small, lightning bolt-shaped scar, identical to the one on his forehead, had appeared on the palm of his right hand. When he'd asked Madam Pomfrey about it, she said it must have been from the curse that had hit him. Now he sat waiting for Catalina to play her go - he'd been waiting for five minutes.

'Catalina, are you going to move or what?' groaned Harry.

'Sshhh!' she said holding up her hand to stop him from talking.

'What the – ?' asked Harry gazing at the palm of Catalina's hand, on it was an identical copy of Harry's scar.

Catalina looked at the look on Harry's face, and then looked at the scar on the palm of her hand.

'Oh don't worry, Madam Pomfrey says it's nothing to worry about, she reckons it was the curse. Don't worry it doesn't hurt' she said dismissivly as she finally moved her chess piece.

Harry was gazing at the scar, with a mixture of curiosity and confusion. Slowly he looked down at his scar then back at Catalina's, they were in the exact same place. 

'Don't _worry _Harry' repeated Catalina, misreading the look on his face.

Slowly Harry reached out and pulled Catalina's hand towards him, and turned it palm upwards above the chess board. Wordlessly he moved his hand towards the same position, and uncurled his fist.

Catalina gave a small gasp as she looked from Harry's hand to her own.

'They're identical' she whispered.

*

By the 16th of December Harry and Catalina were well enough to start walking around, and eventually Madam Pomfrey allowed them to return to Gryffindor tower, much to the delight of the Gryffindor's, who thought they deserved a guard of honour. 

Ever since Harry had found out about the identical scars, he had been wondering about the meaning behind them. They had spent the afternoons piecing together the events of Halloween, but couldn't seem to remember why they would have identical scars on the palm of their hands.

Harry dismissed it as a mystery of the magical word, and Catalina put in out of her mind. Only Hermione and Dumbledore remained curious, and spent long hours researching and questioning the two.

'For the last time Hermione, _I don't remember!_' Harry had said angrily, as Hermione asked him yet again.

Hermione had ceased her questioning after that, but was often seen trying to smuggle books on curses and ancient magic into her dormitory at night.

'Let her if it make her feel better' Ron had told Harry when he pointed this out.

'Talking about guilty people,' said Ron looking over to his pale friend, 'Have you spoken to Sirius?'

'Yeah, he came and visited me on my first day awake, sobbing his apology. I was a really strange sight, this supposed convicted murderer crying because we had an argument!' said Harry laughing at the memory of Sirius's apology.

'I think he was probably more upset about the fact you nearly died actually Harry,' said Ron seriously, 'He hardly moved from your bedside you know, he was so worried that you'd go being angry at him'

'Yeah,' said Harry distantly, 'Still doesn't change the fact that he still thinks Catalina's dangerous, he even said so, told me that "I had the right to choose my own friends, just as long as I choose carefully" honestly, he think she's going to sprout fangs or something!'

*

The first day back to lessons passed uneventfully, save for the whispers and stares that followed them as they walked through the corridors. Professor Snape was refrained from testing any potions on the two, and duelling was strictly forbidden in Professor Figg's class. Harry and Catalina walked silently through the corridors, wincing as people banged in to each of them, and Catalina had a slight limp, which Harry was unable to stop himself mimicking.

*

Ron and Hermione were ecstatic to have Harry and Catalina awake and back in their presence. The month without them had been unbearable, and the fear and uncertainty of the situation still haunted the two. They had felt like a piece of themselves were missing, while their friends had lay in the Hospital Wing, and now they looked at life with renewed vigour. 

They had failed to notice however, the after effects of the curse on their friends. Often they would cry out in unison with pain, or sit thoughtfully rubbing the identical scars. Though Ron and Hermione never put the two together, even if they did they would have laughed off the obvious answer.

Catalina and Harry however, noticed the effects of the curse. Each of them would know when the other had woken up, because of the pain that increased in their heads. Each of them would know if the other was really angry, or sad, or happy because they could feel it. They hadn't noticed that at first, but gradually through the aches and pains, Harry could sense other emotions around him, that didn't belong to him, but sort of did. He couldn't explain it.

Harry and Catalina hadn't discussed the strange new sensations, both silently coming to the same conclusion, which was too laughable to voice out loud. They had decided to keep it a secret, sick with the questions that followed them already.

Two days before the end of term, Harry walked into the Great Hall with Ron for breakfast to see Hermione and Catalina already there. Hermione was silently chewing her breakfast, while Catalina was reading some post her family's owl had brought her. Harry could feel a sense of worry and sadness coming from Catalina, who had her back turned towards him.

'What's wrong?' asked Harry anxiously as he sat down next to her, eyeing the letter.

'Oh, my parents say I'm going to have to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas, they say it's too dangerous for me to see them' she said quietly, staring down at the letter.

'Don't worry Catalina, were all staying as well, at least now you can come to the Yule Ball!' said Hermione with a small smile on her face.

Harry felt Catalina's mood lifting, and he turned to his breakfast. Suddenly a foot came out of nowhere and kicked Harry in the shins.

'Ouch!' said Harry angrily, noticing that Catalina had bitten her lip and was rubbing her own shin.

'Oh sorry Harry, didn't mean to!' said Hermione innocently, staring at Harry pointedly as if they were sharing some great secret.

'Don't worry' said Harry through a mouthful of toast.

Hermione shot Harry a withering look, and went back to her own breakfast.

'So who are you going to the ball with this year?' Harry asked Hermione, grinning as he watched his friend squirm and grow red.

'No-one yet' she mumbled, pretending to be transfixed by a glass of pumpkin juice in front of her.

Harry dropped the subject and they all continued to eat their breakfast in silence, and he was too busy concentrating on his meal to notice Ron give Hermione and small sidelong look.

*

Harry and Catalina were sitting next to each other in potions that afternoon, trying to concoct the rather difficult babbling potion they had been set.

Harry could tell Catalina was still a little depressed, so he kept on the safe topic of Quidditch. 

'You know I still can't believe that Gryffindor won their first match against Ravenclaw' said Harry thoughtfully.

'Yeah, by all accounts Colin played pretty well, caught the snitch after 20 minutes' said Catalina sounding impressed, 'His first proper game as well!'

'Mmmm' agreed Harry, as they worked in silence for a few more minutes.

'Who are you going to ask to the ball then?' asked Catalina hesitantly a few minutes later.

'I don't know' lied Harry, 'Don't know if I'm going to go, I'm not really a big fan of dances'

'Oh' said Catalina, whose mood had just slipped down a few more notches into despair.

'What about you, got your eye on anyone special?' Harry asked, not really concentrating on the answer, more on getting exactly 10 cc of Dragon's blood into his vial.

'Nope' she said in as much of a nonchalant voice as she could muster, staring thoughtful at her lightning shaped scar.

'You know, I reckon Hermione and Ron would make a good couple' said Catalina casually a few minutes later.

Harry let out a snort of laughter, imagining the formidable duo Ron and Hermione would make together.

'What makes you say that?' asked Harry laughing at the very thought.

'Well, they keep staring at each other all the time, when they think I'm not looking. I'm _sure_ Hermione wanted Ron to ask her to the ball this morning' said Catalina looking over to where Ron and Hermione were bickering about the potion ingredients.

Harry looked across to his two friends with a thoughtful expression on his face. His mind was too busy contemplating the Hermione/Ron situation he didn't notice that Catalina's cloud of depression had grown even darker following their talk about the ball.

'They certainly fight like an old married couple' said Harry offhandedly.

AN/ Sniggers So everyone, they're alive, and what's more they're kicking! Ready for the embarrassing task of asking dates to Yule Ball…a lot more to come. Corny as it is, I like it…Paffy


	20. Questions and Answers

AN/ Here you go then peeps! All those waiting for Part five of my G/H story be patient, my laptops expected to make a full recovery and will be back with us tomorrow. 

Sorry if it's taking me a long time to update - Neville Chamberlain and the policy of appeasement in the Second World War is keeping me busy…don't ask - unless you're a masochist. 

So with further ado, and without gilding the lily I present to you…

****

~*~*~ Chapter Twenty One ~*~*~

Questions and Answers

That night, two conversations were being held on the same topic in the girls and boys dormitory. Catalina and Hermione were sat cross-legged on one of the large four poster beds talking about the upcoming Yule Ball.

'Are you going to ask Ron?' Catalina asked Hermione out of blue.

'What? – I don't – No!' spluttered Hermione going red.

'Aw knock it off Hermione, you're not fooling me! I've seen the way you look at Ron, and the way Ron looks at you for that matter' said Catalina, with a small playful grin on her face.

Hermione looked outraged for a few seconds, tying to think of some kind of retaliation, but then sensed the futility of it all and let her shoulders sag.

'Is it that obvious?' asked Hermione, face turning scarlet.

*

'Are you going to ask Hermione to the Ball?' Harry asked Ron as he lay on his bed.

'What?' asked Ron indignantly, sitting upright looking at his friend incredulously.

'Ron, I can read you like a book' said Harry, thinking more along the lines of _Catalina_ can read you like a book.

Ron stared at his friends for a few moments, gauging his reaction.

'Maybe' said Ron, face turning scarlet red.

'Well' said Harry offhandedly, 'if you don't get there first, I'm sure she could end up going with Neville or something'

'What!? No way, she wouldn't...Would she?' asked Ron uncertainly, while Harry was left to laugh silently to himself at his friends look of jealousy on his face.

*

'Well since you've succeeded in completely embarrassing me, I think its only fair that you get turn' said Hermione grinning evilly, 'Has Harry asked you yet?'

'What? No, of course not, were just friends' said Catalina, who hadn't expected the question.

'Would you go with him if he asked you though?' pressed Hermione, enjoying seeing Catalina go red.

'Maybe' Catalina mumbled.

'Well you'll be waiting for a long time. Harry's OK when it comes to Dragons or facing you-know-who, but when it comes to asking a girl to a dance, he falls to pieces' laughed Hermione.

Catalina must have looked a little bit crestfallen by the news, because Hermione leaned forward and patted her sympathetically on the hand.

'I know he wants to ask you. You two have shared something special, how many people can say the person they liked was willing to die for them? And nearly did?' Hermione said seriously.

*

Harry was still sitting on Ron's bed, silently laughing as his friend listed the reasons why Hermione would _never _go to the Ball with Neville. Harry and Catalina had decided it was their _duty _to their friends to get Ron and Hermione together, and Harry could feel a certain amount of amusement coming off of Catalina, but a few seconds ago her mood had practically dive-bombed into sadness. He was wondering what the situation was in the girl's dormitory that had caused such a swing in emotions, but suddenly interrupted by Ron waving his hand in front of his eyes.

'What?' asked Harry, looking at Ron frowning.

'I said, You're going to ask Catalina right?' said Ron rolling his eyes at his friend's blank expression.

'I don't know' admitted Harry, deciding to not even bother with pretending like Ron had.

'So your thinking about it then?' asked Ron, excited at the fact he caught Harry out and that he was causing his friend to squirm uncomfortably.

'Well yeah' Harry admitted running his fingers through his hair absentmindedly, 'But what if she says no?'

'Nothing ventured, nothing gained' shrugged Ron.

'Since when did you turn into the philosopher?" muttered Harry quietly. 

*

The next morning everyone that was going home for Christmas boarded the Hogwarts Express, which wasn't that many because most students wanted to go to the Yule Ball on Christmas Eve. Harry had decided that evening as he lay in bed that he would ask Catalina to go to the Ball with him - just as friends though he promised. The only problem was that he couldn't pick up the courage to actually ask her, and Catalina was in such a despondent mood by the afternoon, that even Ron and Hermione noticed it.

'Let's go outside or something?' suggested Ron, sick of being cooped up in the Gryffindor common room all morning.

'Sure' said Harry, pulling Hermione and Catalina out of the comfort of warm common room.

They all walked out onto the Hogwarts grounds, the powdery white snow clinging to the hems of the robes. Harry knew for a fact Ron was going to ask Hermione to the Ball today, he had practically forced his friend to do so. Harry looked across the landscape thoughtfully, trying to decide whether to ask Catalina today as well, to get it over and done with. Suddenly something cold and wet hit him in the neck, and trickled down his spine.

'Snowball fight!' shouted Ron, as he aimed another at Harry's face.

Harry quickly ducked using his Quidditch reflexes, and scooped handfuls of the frozen snow. At fierce battle of the snowballs quickly ensued, and alliances were soon made. Ron and Hermione ere currently hiding behind a mound of snow, sniggering as they heard Harry curse as another of Hermione's charmed snowballed pelted him in the head.

'No fair! You're cheating! I demand a fight the muggle way' shouted Harry to his hidden friends.

'OK you asked for it!' shouted Ron standing up and throwing a huge snowball he had been making at Harry.

Harry bent over double wheezing as the air was knocked out of him and Catalina, also slightly breathless, soon retaliated on her allies' behalf. Soon the four were soaked to the skin, and dithering with the cold but they carried on, Harry was determined to wreak his revenge.

Ron and Hermione, however had the advantage over Harry and Catalina, who were still slightly sore and had to run into the edge of the forest to escape the storm of snow that was upon them. Harry quickly pulled Catalina behind Hagrid's cabin, peering round the corner for Ron, breathing heavily.

'I think we've lost them!' said Harry happily through chattering teeth.

'Oh no we didn't, here they come!' said Catalina pointing down around the other end of the cabin where Ron and Hermione were fast approaching, eyes sweeping across the landscape.

'Down here' whispered Harry, pulling Catalina behind a pile of frozen logs by Hagrid's cabin door.

Catalina squeezed into the small space behind the damp logs watching Ron and Hermione move closer. 'Come out, come out wherever you are!' said Hermione in a singsong voice.

Catalina tried to contain her laughter, and let out a small giggle, which Hermione heard and started to stalk closer. Harry clapped a hand over Catalina's face to keep her quiet, which just made her laugh even harder.

'Sshhh' said Harry, lips quivering with suppressed laughter, 'They'll hear us!'

But it seemed Hermione and Ron didn't hear them, because they walked right past Harry and Catalina's hiding place. After a few minutes Harry took his hand away from Catalina, and she peered around the logs.

It's now or never thought Harry, as Catalina sat back down, he took a deep breath:

'Catalina, Do you want to – ?' started Harry, but whatever he was going to ask was interrupted by a shriek from Catalina.

'Agghhh!' she shouted as she leapt up from her hiding place, shaking the mountain of snow from her jet-black hair.

Ron and Hermione were stood in front of them, roaring with laughter, as Catalina tried to shake the snow out from the back of her robes. Soon all three of them were rolling on the floor, and gales of laughter followed the glaring Catalina all the way up to the castle.

Catalina stormed ahead, pretending to be angry with Ron, but Harry could tell she wasn't really. They were just about to walk up the steps to the Entrance Hall, when Catalina suddenly stopped and pushed Ron into a nearby snowdrift.

'Now were equal!' she said sweetly, before running up the stairs away from Ron, who chased after her.

Hermione and Harry laughed and walked more slowly, up the stairs and back to the common room. They followed the trail of melted snow back to the common room, when Hermione turned to him, as if desperate to tell him something.

'Ron asked me to the ball' she blurted out turned red.

'Took him long enough didn't it?' laughed Harry as they walked into the common room.

'You knew?' she said incredulously.

'Course' said Harry nonchalantly.

'Are you going to ask Catalina? Because if you don't she might go with someone else' said Hermione slyly, inwardly laughing at Harry's paling face.

*

It was the day before the Yule Ball and Harry still hadn't asked Catalina, who was walking around the castle with a thundercloud over her head. Harry could tell she was upset, and depressed but he didn't know what about. Hermione and Ron had disappeared to the library a few minutes ago with a conspirational wink, and had left Harry alone with Catalina.

'You're upset' Harry stated bluntly.

'No, I'm bored' said Catalina angrily, staring at the fire.

Harry looked at Catalina, trying to understand what was wrong with her. All week long he'd been interrupted every time he'd try to ask Catalina The Question, and he decided to take the opportunity Ron and Hermione had given them, to swallow his nerves and do It.

'Er Catalina? Do you want to – ?' he started, before he was interrupted. 

'Catalina? Can I borrow your charms book?' asked Lavender Brown desperately, 'I need to find a charm to sort out my hair for tomorrow night!'

'Sure it's in my trunk' said Catalina, who turned to look at Harry, who was shaking with silent laughter.

'What?' she asked indignantly.

'Nothing…every single time' he muttered said to himself, laughing at his own bad luck, someone was trying to tell him something.

Suddenly Harry jumped up, and grabbed Catalina's wrists.

'Up! Up!' he said pulling Catalina to her feet, 'Get your broom, were going flying!'

Catalina couldn't be bothered to object, and quickly got her broom. The walked down to the frozen Quidditch pitch, brooms over their shoulders and shivering against the cold. They both mounted their brooms and pushed off the ground, racing each other around the pitch. Harry practised the Wronski Feint on Catalina, who always pulled out of the dive first.

'Catalina!' Harry yelled across the pitch, 'Get over here!'

Catalina glided over to where Harry was hovering, 50 feet above the ground with a nervous grin on his face.

'Right listen up. I've been trying to ask you this all week, and every single time someone's been butting in, but I think I'm safe here don't you?' he said eyeing the empty stadium.

Catalina held her breath.

'Do you want to go to the Yule Ball with me?' said Harry quickly, flinching as he waited for her answer.

There was a long pause as Catalina regarded him critically, and Harry felt as if someone had winded him, she was going to say no, he knew it.

'Sure' she said finally, grinning evilly.

'You!' said Harry, chasing after Catalina who was laughing uncontrollably.


	21. The Seeing Stone

~*~*~ Chapter Twenty Two ~*~*~

The Seeing Stone

Ron and Harry were standing in the middle of the common room, waiting for Hermione and Catalina to come down from their dormitory. They were ten minutes late already.

'What's taking them so long?' muttered Ron, fidgeting with his navy blue dress robes.

'Girls' muttered Harry in response, ignoring the butterflies in his stomach.

Just then Hermione descended the staircase, dressed in he lilac dress robes with her hair twisted into an elegant French plait. Harry tried to conceal his laughter as he saw Ron staring goggle eyed at Hermione, who was nervously patting her hair.

'Well?' she asked nervously.

'You look lovely Hermione' said Ron, ears turning pink.

Harry bit his lip as he watched his two best friends standing together awkwardly, Ron couldn't keep his eyes of Hermione. Harry was about to burst out laughing, when a noise behind him made him turn around.

Catalina was walking down the stairs dressed in pure white dress robes, her black hair sat loosely in ringlets on her shoulders. This time it was Ron and Hermione's turn to laugh at Harry whose jaw had fell open and refused to close.

'Well are you just going to stare at me all night?' asked Catalina good naturally.

'Nope, I was hoping to dance with you as well' said Harry recovering enough to shoot Ron a glare.

'Shall we go down?' asked Catalina grinning at Hermione.

'Sure' said Harry holding out his arm to Catalina, grinning like a lunatic as they walked down to the Great Hall.

Everyone couldn't fail to be impressed as they strolled into the Great Hall, small round tables were dotted around the edges of the hall, leaving a huge space as the dance floor in the middle. Real life fairies were fluttering around the ceiling, mingling with the brilliant stars that they could see on the bewitched ceiling, making the Hall glimmer like silver mist.

Dinner was ordered in much the same way as at the previous Yule Ball, by telling the plate in front of them what they wanted. Harry and Catalina were talking together, as were a Ron and Hermione, completely oblivious to their surroundings, or what he was eating. Harry had forgotten about the entire dance until the food was cleared away and Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement.

'Let the ball begin' he said smiling at the students around him.

The lights dimmed, and four wizards walked onto the small stage, each picking up an instrument, and started playing.

'Come on Harry' said Catalina, tugging Harry to his feet, and dragging him onto the dance floor.

'I've got to warn you, I can't dance' said Harry nervously as Catalina pulled him onto a crowd of people.

'Then you're just going to have to learn' laughed Catalina as she took up her place in the mass of moving people.

The fast beat was pumping through the Great Hall and Harry and Catalina joined a group of Gryffindor fifth years. After a few minutes of awkwardly trying to copy the people around him, Harry got into the swing of things, and was soon dancing without looking at his feet. Hermione didn't seem to have any problems with dancing, and Ron was gazing at her constantly, much to the satisfaction of Harry and Catalina who felt that everything had gone according to plan.

Soon Hermione and Ron came over and the entire 5th year of Gryfinndor tower was dancing together to a wild swing beat. Partners were being passed round the circle, and soon Harry had danced with Lavender, Parvati and Hermione before being given Catalina back.

The night passed quickly in a blur of music and colour, and soon the night was drawing to a close. It had been completely different from Harry's first dance, which he couldn't wait to leave, and now Harry was looking at the end of the dance with sadness.

The band struck up a slow number, and Harry managed to find Catalina in the crowd. He held out his hand to her grinning, which she took, and they began to dance. They swayed to the slow music, and Harry found it very hard to believe at that moment there was any evil in the world. They twirled round slowly, pointing out couples that were dancing around them, trying to keep a straight face as they saw Snape sitting alone at the teacher's table.

The music faded away and Dumbledore stood on the stage, clapping at the band who laid their instruments down and took a bow.

'Alas, all good things must come to an end!' said Dumbledore as he ushered students out of the Hall. 

Harry waited back for Hermione and Ron who were at the back of the crowd, who soon caught up with them. Behind the four, Malfoy was walking with a scowl on his face hissing loudly to his two friends trying to provoke Harry and Ron.

'Of course he would go with that mudblood, couldn't find a proper date...and I'm surprised at her, going with a nutcase like him' Malfoy murmured to his chuckling friends.

Harry tried to block out the sound of his annoying voice, which was echoing round his head as he insulted Catalina, Ron and Hermione. Catalina laid a calming hand on his arm as she felt Harry's anger rising, and saw Hermione doing the same to Ron.

'Of course they make a good couple, he doesn't even have any family, and hers don't even want her around. Don't blame them personally, who'd want a freak like –' 

Harry spun round in a whirl of robes to face Malfoy, whose eyes were glinting maliciously, and without a second thought drew back his fist and punched Malfoy in the face. Harry heard a satisfying crack and Malfoy sunk the floor cursing Harry and clutching his nose. Harry sank down onto his knees in front of Malfoy and stared into his face for a few seconds.

'Don't you _ever _say anything about Catalina _or_ myfriends again, or I'll do something much worse than _that_' he hissed, pushing Malfoy backwards onto the cool, hard marble.

Harry stood up and looked down at Malfoy coolly for a few moments longer, then without saying another word, took Catalina's hand and walked to Gryffindor Tower.

Catalina could feel the fury pouring from Harry who was storming down the corridors. Ron and Hermione were looking at Harry with shock and awe, eagerly looking forward to see Malfoy with a broken nose, and hopefully a pair of black eyes to match.

*

Harry was awoken the next morning by a cold breeze fluttering through his hair, he opened his eyes groggily to see a pair of cats eyes staring back. He jumped backward falling onto the floor in a tangle of sheets.

'Catalina! That wasn't funny' he shouted from the floor, watching the Catalina, Ron and Hermione gasping with laughter.

'The look on your face! Priceless' spluttered Ron, laughing even harder and Harry tried and failed miserably to untangle himself from the sheets.

'What are you two doing in here anyway?' asked Harry glaring suspiciously at the two girls.

'Christmas?' Catalina reminded him rolling her eyes.

Harry sat up, looking excitedly at the small pile of presents on the end of his bed. Catalina settled on the end of Harry's bed, holding a small pile herself, while Hermione made herself comfortable on Ron's. Harry picked up his first present, which turned out to be a new pair of leather Quidditch gloves, as a joint present from Hermione and Ron. The second package turned out to be from Sirius, which was a large box of assorted Honeyduke's sweets. Harry realised with a small jolt, that there was no present from the Dursley's, he had been so caught up with everything that had happened this year he had forgot about the death of his only surviving relatives.

Harry was looking sadly at the empty space on his bed, when a square package was pushed into his hand, he looked up to see Catalina smiling.

'You didn't think I'd forgot did you?' she said grinning.

Harry took the package in his hands, and started to peel away the brown paper. A small object shaped like a snow globe fell into his hands, which was filled with a strange silver mist. He shook the globe, and the mist swirled crazily before settling back into it restless patterns.

'It's a Specto-Saxum, its supposed to be able to show you an hour into the past or future' she said proudly.

'Wow…really?' asked Harry softly, watching the silver smoke swirling inside, 'Where did you get it? I've never seen anything like it before'

'I've had it for years, I got it when I was in China, a mysterious old man gave it to me' she said ominously, but the effect was slightly ruined by her trying to contain her giggles 'Well actually I bought it at a fair, so I don't suppose it works, never has for me'

Harry laughed as he shook the globe again, but couldn't make out anything through the swirling mist. He picked up the small gift he'd brought for Catalina and handed it to her.

'It's not much' he muttered, looking at Catalina's large gift compared to his.

She gasped as she unwrapped the delicate silver bracelet. She put in on her left wrist and took in the detail of the snakes that curled round, intertwining with one another. The bracelet caught the light, and she looked into the emerald green eyes.

'It's beautiful' she breathed.

Hermione and Ron looked up sharply, and Catalina proudly showed off her new bracelet. Judging by their shocked expressions they were equally impressed with the bracelet as her. Ron and Hermione gave each other a long searching share, while Harry and Catalina munched their way through the large tub of Berti Botts Every Flavour Beans.

Hermione was similarly impressed with the amethyst necklace that Ron had bought her, and they all sat in the common room for a few hours, admiring their gifts and eating Harry's sweets.

*

Christmas dinner as Hogwarts was a splendid as any other year, and Harry, Ron, Hermione and Catalina all had fun pulling the Wizard Crackers and throwing brussel sprouts a Draco Malfoy, who sat glaring at the four through two black eyes.

Hermione sat laughing at Ron, who was squirming as he tried to pull off the flowery bonnet she had magically attached to his head, and Catalina occupied her time pulling faces at Malfoy, who seemed to be either too angry or too scared to retaliate. After a few rather unenthusiastic Christmas carols, which were conducted by Dumbledore, the four trooped up to Gryffindor Tower, too full to even speak.

*

The next day Harry and Ron didn't rise until past 12 'o' clock, and the common room was jam packed with students, who were not brave enough to venture outside into the blizzard that was whipping up around the castle walls. Hermione was huddled by the fireplace, reading a large book, but Catalina was nowhere to be found.

'Where's Catalina?' asked Harry, smirking as he saw Ron wriggle into the sofa next to Hermione.

'She had to go and see Dumbledore' said Hermione distantly as she read her book.

'Why?' asked Harry anxiously.

'Nothing bad' said Hermione quickly, 'At least it didn't sound it'

Harry sat down in one of the deep chairs, and pulled out the Specto-Saxum. He was trying to get the thing to work, which showed nothing but silver mist still. He tuned out of Hermione and Ron's conversation and let his mind wander, trying to find out what Catalina was up to. She was excited, Harry could tell that much, so he wasn't worried, and turned his attention back to the globe.

'Maybe you need a password for it?' suggested Ron.

'Mmmm, but how am I supposed to figure out the right one?' asked Harry turned to globe over in his hand.

'The Map!, said Hermione excitedly, 'The Marauders Map, it shows you the passwords to Hogwarts, maybe it'll show you the password to the globe?'

Harry leapt up excitedly and ran to his dormitory, returning a few seconds later with the old parchment clutched in his hand.

'I solemnly swear I am up to no good' whispered Harry to parchment, and watched as Hogwarts was recreated by the thin snaking lines of ink.

He leaned forward to see the small dot labelled 'Harry Potter' saying '_Retego_' to the globe.

Eagerly Harry picked up the globe, and after saying the password, looked in amazement as the silver mist inside the globe turned purple then disappeared. The three crowded around the globe, watching the miniature scene inside the globe. Hermione was sitting in the same seat reading her book and Catalina walked up to her.

'I've got to go and see Dumbledore' said Catalina in a distant voice.

'OK, see you later' said Hermione absorbed in her book.

The room started to go cloudy again, and Harry realised it was because the silver mist was closing in again.

'That's only what happened here an hour ago' said Hermione settling back in her chair.

'Try again Harry, maybe it'll show you the future now?' said Ron, eager to see the globe in action again.

'_Retego_' said Harry, peering into the swirling depths as the silver mist turned green and parted to reveal himself sitting in the chair on his own. He was staring thoughtfully at the scar on his hand, holding the globe in one hand, when he suddenly looked up.

'I don't want you to leave' the Harry inside the globe said distantly, looking at someone across the other side of the room.

The view suddenly clouded, and the globe became full of the swirling silver mist again.

'What was all that about?' asked Ron thoughtfully.

'Dunno' said Harry flopping down into the chair he'd seen himself on inside the globe.

He stared around his surroundings, thinking about the globe, maybe it showed past and future alternatively, or maybe you had to ask for the past or the future.

'Coming?' asked Ron, breaking Harry out of his reverie.

'Where to?' asked Harry, thoughts still with the globe.

'Hagrid's, we haven't seen much of him since he got back' repeated Ron, rolling his eyes at Harry.

'Nah, I think I'll stay here, and catch up on my Potions, say hello to him and Cupio for me' said Harry grimacing at the thought of a months worth of potions essays that lay inside his trunk to be completed.

'Fine see you later' said Ron, as he and Hermione donned winter cloaks and stepped out of the portrait hole.

Harry however didn't get his potions, he sat in the chair, globe in hand, and thinking. He held the globe up to himself again, desperate to know what was going on.

'_Retego_' said Harry, watching the silver mist turn green then clear. He saw Ron and Hermione sitting opposite each other talking seriously.

'She's keeping secrets from Harry' Hermione said faintly.

'Yeah, I wonder why though? Especially from Harry' came Ron's distant voice.

'Do you think we should tell him?' asked Hermione

'I've got no idea, I just don't understand why she doesn't want us to kno – ' began Ron, but the silver mist swirled in front of Harry's eyes, settling back to its rhythmic movements.

Harry sat dumbstruck for a moment, thinking about what he had just heard when Catalina came running through the portrait hole, Harry didn't have to be able to read Catalina's emotions to know that she was impossibly excited.

'Harry! Harry guess what?' she said running over to where Harry was still sat.

'What?' said Harry, knowing full well what Catalina was going to say. She was leaving.

'Dumbledore says it safe for me to go and visit my parents for a few days! I can't wait to see them!' said Catalina excitedly, hurrying to pack her things.

'When are you leaving?' asked Harry, feeling Catalina 's excitement matching his anxiety.

'In a minute, Dumbledore's taking me to the train station…' she said eyes clouding, '...in Hogsmeade'

Harry watched Catalina rush to the girl's dormitory, and he sat in the chair thoughtfully looking at his scar, still grasping the globe when a noise made him look up.

Catalina was standing in front of him, looking excited.

'I don't want you to leave' said Harry truthfully.

'But I do, if you were me, you'd want to go wouldn't you?' said Catalina seeing Harry's expression.

'Well I wouldn't know' said Harry shortly, 'When are you coming back?'

'Three or four days, before term starts, I'll see you then Harry' said Catalina expectantly.

'OK, I'll see you soon' Harry called to Catalina's retreating back, watching her trunk float behind her.

Harry got up and walked across to the window by the boy's dormitory stairs and stared into the blizzard. A few minutes later Harry saw Catalina emerge with Dumbledore and walk out of the gates. It had all been a bit sudden, and Harry wondered if Dumbledore had an ulterior motive.

Just then Hermione and Ron scrambled through the portrait hole, talking quietly between themselves. They looked around for Harry, who was hidden by the shadows of the heavy red curtains by the window. He saw Ron and Hermione sit opposite each other talking seriously.

'She's keeping secrets from Harry' Hermione said anxiously.

'Yeah, I wonder why though? Especially from Harry' came Ron's voice across the common room.

'Do you think we should tell him?' asked Hermione

'I've got no idea, I just don't understand why she doesn't want us to know, were supposed to be her friends' said Ron.

'I don't understand why she doesn't want Harry to know' said Hermione while biting her nails.

Harry chose this moment to walk over to the two, who judging by their faces thought Harry had overheard their conversation.

'Harry – ?' begun Hermione, trying to explain.

'Catalina's gone' said Harry flatly, not wanting to think about the secrets Catalina was keeping from him at the moment. 

Relief spread across Ron and Hermione's features who obviously thought Harry didn't hear their conversation, and was just glum about Catalina leaving.

'Where?' demanded Ron.

'To visit her parents, Dumbledore just took her, one minute she was here then the next...' said Harry waving his arm expressively.

'That was a bit sudden' said Hermione thoughtfully.

'Yeah I know' said Harry with a far away look in his eyes.

TBC

AN/ Ohh, so this things actually getting some plot now! Only took 22 chapters! So…what was so shocking about Catalina's reaction to her Christmas present that's got them so worried, and what secrets is she hiding from Harry that they've found out?

Tune it next week to…_dum dum dum_…Unsolved mysteries…

Only kidding, won't be long…


	22. Return from Firelight Manor

~*~*~ Chapter Twenty Three ~*~*~

Return from Firelight Manor

Harry couldn't get to sleep that night. Ron and Hermione's conversation kept replaying in his head, until it started pounding with effort. What secrets was Catalina keeping from him? What could be that bad that she wouldn't be able to tell him, or Ron and Hermione? 

He sat in bed for a long time, unable to get to sleep, listening to Catalina's excitement. Harry guessed that she was on the train by now, and would be at King's Cross in the early morning. Harry finally drifted to sleep, thinking about the reason behind her secrets and her sudden departure, worrying about the meaning behind it.

*

Harry awoke slowly the next morning, choosing the keep his eyes squeezed shut as long as possible. He lay in his bed for a while, going through his usual morning routine, checking who was in the dorm through squinted eyes, seeing if Ron was there, checking Catalina as ok. He enjoyed doing this because he didn't even have to move to find this all out. So he checked the dormitory, only Neville was still in the room, Ron had disappeared already. Then he checked Catalina, taking only a few seconds to realise what was wrong. Catalina's emotions, which were usually like a second heart beat to him, were missing. 

Harry sat bolt upright it bed, panicking. There was nothing, no happiness, no sadness, no fear or pain. Nothing. Harry hadn't even notice the space Catalina's emotions had taken up inside him, until they'd gone. He sat breathing rapidly, wondering what it meant. Was Catalina ok? What could have happened to cut all of her emotions off? Then the thought came to him, she was at the other end of the country, maybe she was too far away?

Harry walked down to the common room, in a deep depression. He couldn't explain why, but he just felt lonely now.

'Missing Catalina?' asked Ron innocently, laughing at his friends expression.

'Oh shut up' said Harry falling into the seat with a scowl on his face.

'What's wrong with you?' asked Ron indignantly.

'Nothing' said Harry stoutly.

*

The last few days of holiday passed slowly, and Harry was in a permanent bad mood. Ron and Hermione suspected it was because of Catalina's departure, but couldn't get Harry to admit it. Catalina was arriving with the rest of the school a day before term started, and Harry was counting down the hours. He felt all empty and cold inside, like being sick.

One thing did take his mind off his fear, anger and worries. Two days before the return back to school life, Harry, Ron and Hermione were called to another meeting in Dumbledore's office.

'There's still no joy with the Ministry I'm afraid. They're refusing to release the names of the Death Eaters who attacked you, because they were all acquitted of being Death Eaters a long time ago' stated Dumbledore once the three had settled into the chairs in his office.

'Well at least we can console ourselves with the fact a lot of people didn't pass of the attack as mental patients, they saw the signs, they recognised the similarities' said Snape slowly, his pale face looking even more sallow than usual.

'Yes, and I'm sure Voldemort is planning something big, to get the whole world talking about him again. No doubt he doesn't like his handiwork being blamed on psychiatric patients' said Dumbledore thoughtfully.

'What do you think he will do?' asked Hermione fearfully.

'That, I do not know,' said Dumbledore heavily, 'we must keep our eyes and ears open for signs'

Everyone sat in a few moments of silence, thinking about the impending situation.

'Well if that's everything, I think it's time for us all to sleep' said Dumbledore rising and ushering everyone out of the room.

'Err, Professor Dumbledore could I talk to you for a minute?' asked Harry lingering in the doorway when everyone had gone.

'Of course' said Dumbledore showing Harry into another seat opposite him.

'Can I ask you why Catalina left so suddenly the other day? I thought it was too dangerous for her to leave, and then suddenly it's ok? asked Harry anxiously.

'Ah Harry, we were given a short window of time to get Catalina away from the school, before Voldemort could realise. We also needed her to take part in some charms to protect her family' said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling at Harry's worry.

'What kind of charms?' Harry asked anxiously.

'Nothing harmful I can assure you, she's perfectly safe were she is. I have people looking after her, and she'll be back tomorrow' laughed Dumbledore.

'Oh, ok' said Harry thoughtfully, and he stood up to leave.

'Did you talk to Sirius?' asked Dumbledore as Harry reached the door.

'Yeah' said Harry awkwardly.

'He's only trying to do his best for you, you know' said Dumbledore seriously.

'Yeah…I know' Harry whispered as he let himself out of the office.

*

The next morning and Harry awoke to a pleasant thought, Catalina was excited. It took a few seconds to realise what he'd just thought, and he sat bolt upright in bed. Harry could feel Catalina's emotions again! She was coming back he thought happily. He suddenly didn't feel empty anymore, and sat listening to Catalina for a while. 

Harry was confused, he was getting mixed messages, he could tell she was extremely excited, but also depressed, and a little scared. He jumped out of bed quickly and threw on his clothes, and raced into the common room.

'Catalina must be back soon' laughed Ron seeing Harry's excited expression.

'Oh shut up Ron' said Harry good naturally. 

'Shall we go down and meet her at Hogsmeade?' asked Hermione thoughtfully.

'Sure' said Harry, fidgeting in his seat.

'Oh Hermione, I really need some help with my Herbology essay' said Ron, winking at Hermione theatrically.

'Oh!' said Hermione cottoning on, 'Sure, you don't mind going on your own, do you Harry?' asked Hermione innocently.

'No, it's ok' said Harry, too busy with his own thoughts to notice Ron and Hermione's smirks.

'You'd better go, the train will be arriving at 12' said Hermione seriously.

'Yeah, Have fun!' said Ron waggling his eyebrows.

The didn't burst out laughing until Harry had climbed out of the portrait hole, nervously trying to flatten his hair.

'How long do you think it'll take him to realise he hasn't got any shoes or socks on?' asked Ron laughing at his friends excitement.

'Lets see...5...4...3...2...1' said Hermione, laughing as she saw Harry run back into the common room exactly on time.

'Forgotten something?' asked Ron innocently.

'Shoes' said Harry sheepishly, charging into the boys dorm, and back out again faster than a Firebolt.

*

Catalina watched the scenery changing, from rolling countryside to wild moors with deep satisfaction. The short stay with her parents, which had seemed like such as good idea at the time, did not go well. Her father and mother were in a constant bad mood with her, she had been followed everywhere by Ministry Official, and wasn't even allowed out of the house. 

The house her parents were staying in until _Firelight Manor _was renovated, was small and in the middle of a large muggle city. She couldn't rest there, it didn't feel like home, her parents didn't feel like her parents. Catalina brushed away a tear as she stared at the window, not seeing what was passing by.

She sighed contentedly as the train started to sow down, pulling into Hogsmeade station. Now she felt like she was going home. Out of all of the schools she had gone to during her life, only Hogwarts felt real, like home. She pulled her trunk from underneath her seat, and slowly made up way up the aisle and to the train door. She stepped off and looked around, the wind was blowing furiously and whipping her hair around her face. She pulled the winter hood of her winter cloak around her face, hiding her red-rimmed eyes from everyone around her. Slowly she made her way up the platform, excited at the prospect at seeing her friends again. She'd missed them more than she had thought she would, and the absence of Harry's emotions made her feel cold and empty. Cut off from the world.

Now however she rejoiced in being back home, and listened to Harry, who was impossibly excited. He was probably playing Quidditch at the moment or something thought Catalina.

'Hello stranger' came as voice near her ear.

Catalina whipped round to see Harry standing beside her, face half hidden in his large winter cloak.

'Harry!' cried Catalina, as she gave him a small hug.

'How was your trip?' asked Harry as he carried her trunk towards the horse-less carriage.

'Oh fine!' she lied, which Harry seemed to have realised.

'Really?' he asked, eyebrows raised.

'Just a little strange I guess. Anyway I'm back now, what have you done while I was away?' she asked, hoping Harry would change the subject.

Harry hadn't done a lot by the sound of it, and they were both glad to get back to the warm common room. Catalina spoke briefly to Ron and Hermione before putting her trunk back in her room, Hermione followed her up and left Harry and Ron alone.

'So, happy to see Catalina again?' asked Ron with a small smile on his lips.

'Oh shut up Ron' laughed Harry.

'You seem to say that to me a lot you know' said Ron with mock irritation.

*

Catalina got into the girl's dormitory, and threw off her cloak, placing it gently inside her trunk.

'Catalina? Have you been crying?' asked Hermione catching sight of her friends slightly red eyes.

'What? No of course I haven't' she said, wishing that her eyes didn't stay red for so long.

'What's wrong? It's not Harry is it?' asked Hermione, not believing Catalina's act for a second.

'No! And yes,' admitted Catalina, 'Did Harry ever tell you about my dad and his dad?' 

'Yeah, he told me you were ok about it though' said Hermione, not understanding where the conversation was heading.

'Well remember when Sirius told Harry that he should stay away from me, and he was in that foul mood? Well my parents kind of had the same talk with me' said Catalina heavily.

'Oh I see' said Hermione thinking.

'I mean, just because our parents didn't get on, it doesn't me that we cant right?' Catalina burst out angrily, 'I can be friends with whoever I want right? I don't need his permission right?...'.

Hermione sat back listening intently, letting Catalina continue with her rant, who seemed to have forgotten that Hermione was there.

'...and he wants me to stay away from Harry! Thinks he's dangerous! He saved my _life_' Catalina said seriously.

Catalina suddenly gave Hermione a surprised look, as if seeing her for the first time.

'Sorry' she muttered before starting to unpack her things

'What are you going to do?' asked Hermione watching Catalina anxiously.

'Nothing, carry on like normal. I'm not letting Harry go just because my father had a fight with his dad' said Catalina firmly.

'What would your father do if he found – ?' started Hermione nervously.

'He saved my life Hermione' said Catalina earnestly.

Hermione merely nodded, she wouldn't to get on the wrong side of a powerful magus, but Catalina knew her dad, she knew how far to push him.

*

'Eugghh, I can't believe were back in potions again' said Harry disgustedly.

'I know, kill me, kill me now' laughed Ron who was trying to dice rats livers into equal cubes.

'Hey there is one good thing about it,' said Harry mischievously.

'What's that?' asked Ron, failing to find anything that could possibly be good about double potions with the Slytherin's and Snape.

'Malfoy!' said Harry grinning, 'Ever since I punched him at the Yule Ball, he's been so scared to even look my way!'

Ron and Harry laughed loudly, with earned them with a sour look from Snape. Harry and Ron occupied the rest of the lesson pulling faces at Malfoy, and rubbing their fists menacingly. Malfoy merely glared at them through his subsiding black eyes, and turned back to his bench. At the end of the lesson Ron and Hermione pushed out of the class first, followed by Harry and Catalina. Harry was halfway to next lesson when Malfoy came up behind him.

'Don't think I haven't forgotten this Potter, I'll get you back' he hissed into Harry's ear.

Harry swung round, all ready for a repeat of the end of the Yule Ball.

'Mr Potter? What do you think you are doing?' came the cruel voice of Snape, which was standing behind Malfoy now, who had a look of smug superiority on his face.

'10 Points from Gryffindor for loitering in the corridors, now get to your next classes said Snape, watching Harry walk away with a slight sneer on his face.

*

The rest of the day went smoothly, and Harry didn't see Snape or Malfoy again. That evening Ron, Harry and Catalina walked down to the Quidditch pitch for practise. Fred and George were made captains whilst Harry was in the Hospital Wing, and now had two whole teams to organise. Fred took the Gryffindor team, and George took the reserve team running through drills, new moves and tactics. At the end of the evening the two teams were mixed and they played a game against each other.

Ron, Ginny, Catalina, Katie and the Jameson Brothers were on Harry's team, and the they played well. The match was close, but Harry eventually managed to catch the Snitch making it 200 – 90 to Harry's team. 

Catalina's broom caused a stir, and all of the new members of the team couldn't wait to go on Harry's Firebolt. So the training finished later than expected and it's was dark before the three made their way back to the common room.

'Gryffindor against Slytherin in two weeks time' moaned Ron.

'Don't worry, we'll wipe the floor with them!' laughed Harry, hoping to get another one over on Malfoy.

*

The following two weeks flew by in a blur of lessons, Quidditch practises and homework. Order of the Phoenix meeting were held regularly every three days now, which provided Harry with an unpleasant and unwelcome view at life outside the safe castle walls. There were disappearances, murders and sightings of the dark mark everywhere, but still the Ministry managed to cover it all up. People were becoming increasingly suspicious and rumours of a new powerful dark wizard emerged.

However inside the castle walls, the most Harry and Ron had to worry about was not being beaten up by the Slytherin's that seemed to follow him and his teammates. It seemed everybody had something to prove, and Harry was going to win this game just to wipe the smug smile of Malfoy's face that had reappeared.

Harry had just thought the tailing by the Slytherin's to be a little pathetic and not really dangerous until upsetting news reached him the night before the big game.

He had turned up for dinner late that evening to find the Gryffindor table alive with whispers.

'Katie Bell's in the Hospital Wing…'

'Yeah they say she's broken her arm and leg…'

'They say she fell, but I don't think so…'

'What's happened?' Harry demanded.

'Katie Bell was pushed down some stairs this afternoon, she in the Hospital Wing now, she can't play tomorrow' said Ron face flashing with anger.

'Who pushed her?' asked Harry angrily.

'Well the official story is she lost her balance in a crowd this afternoon, just happened to be a crowd of _Slytherin's _didn't it?' said Ron, spitting the name in disgust.

Harry looked over to the Slytherin table and say Malfoy and the other Slytherin Quidditch team laughing heartily to themselves. Malfoy was doing spirited impressions of someone falling, and Harry felt cold fury pulse through his body. They didn't care about anyone, just themselves.

'Catalina we want you to play Katie's position' said Fred, staring at Catalina intently.

'Me? No I can't, I'm not good enough, the others have had more practise than I have!' said Catalina nervously.

'You're our best Chaser, you have the skill and you have the broom. Do it for Katie' said George equally as serious, which was quite disconcerting to see.

Catalina shook her head warily, before looking over at the Slytherin's. She felt her resolve strengthen.

'Ok, I'll do it' 

'Were gonna give them a match they'll never forget' said Fred looking furiously at the laughing Slytherin's.

*

'Ok team, this is it' said Fred seriously.

'We are going out there today, and were gonna play the best damn game of Quidditch we've ever played!' shouted George.

'And were gonna win it, for Katie' said Fred quietly.

'Were going to show them, that only Quidditch skills win a game of Quidditch, not rich fathers and foul play!' said George passionately.

The team had never seen the twins so furiously serious as they did today, and their determination rubbed off on the whole team.

Harry, Catalina and Ron lined up on the pitch next to each other, and mounted their brooms, waiting for the whistle.

'Nervous?' Harry asked Catalina.

'Do you need to ask' said Catalina trying to block out hers as well as Harry's nerves that were niggling her stomach.

'Course not' Harry laughed, then looked seriously at Catalina, 'Be careful, Malfoy's out to do damage today, they all are. Stay away from him. Keep yourself safe'

'I will, don't worry, as long as you do the same' said Catalina.

Madam Hooch blew her silver whistle, and Harry, Ron and Catalina kicked off from the ground. Harry's nerves were left down on the pitch, and he felt a thrill as the wind whipped his face and hair. He was free at last.

Harry rose fast above the rest of the team, and played eagle, restlessly searching the pitch for the snitch. Malfoy flew up beside him, but Harry ignored him, surveying the scene and watching Ron and Catalina's progress.

'Johnson has the Quaffle – passed to Spinnet - back to Johnson, she approaches the post – Oh nice block there by the Slytherin Keeper – Slytherin in possession – Flint has the Quaffle and is approaching Gryffindor goal guarded by Ron Weasley – Nice save Ron! – Gryffindor have the Quaffle – it's Spinnet – Firelight – Johnson –YES Johnson scores! Gryffindor 10 Slytherin 0' came Lee Jordan's voice over the crowd.

Harry looked down around the stadium, taking in the positions of all his teammates, Catalina was doing a good job, keeping a low profile until it was her time to shine. Harry saw as a bludger whizzed towards her, but Catalina swerved and it flew straight past, hitting one of the Slytherin chasers.

The game started to become dirtier, the Slytherin's were stopping at nothing to get the Quaffle. Bludgers were been directed at the face and Fred and George Weasley had a hard time keeping them away from their teammates. Harry tried to get away from Malfoy who was following him closely.

'Worried about your _girlfriend?_' said Malfoy seeing Harry concentrating on Catalina's performance, 'Wouldn't it be such a shame if something happened to her?' he added innocently.

Harry turned his Firebolt quickly and aimed at Malfoy, but a shout from the crowd was telling him something was happening.

'Brilliant display of a Hawkshead Attacking Formation there – Johnson had the Quaffle – Passed to Firelight – FIRELIGHT SCORES – Gryffindor 20 Slytherin 0!'

Harry sped away from Malfoy, to stop him doing something he would regret, well probably not regret Harry thought ruefully as he searched for the snitch. A flash of George's gold wristwatch nearly had him fooled, which suddenly gave him an idea.

Feigning a look of intense concentration and excitement, Harry sped towards to ground, as predicted Malfoy's followed suit, desperately searching for the snitch that he could not see.

'Potter's seen the snitch and is diving fast – Malfoy follows suit – it's neck and neck – THEIR GOING TO CRASH – No Potter pulls out – Malfoy's follows, but too late – OUCH – That was a nasty collision with Slytherin Chaser Pucey' shouted Lee Jordan happily.

Harry looked down and laughed at Malfoy who had barely managed to keep on his broom, and was now sporting a bloody nose. Harry did a double barrel roll to vent his feelings. He had just executed a perfect Wronski Feint and fooled Malfoy into a bloody nose!

'That was a genuine Wronski Feint! I see a year out hasn't dulled our Seeker's game!' shouted Lee happily.

Harry flew high, watching the game proceeding below, Gryffindor scored another three times and Malfoy wasn't following Harry as closely. Harry formed a plan in his head and decided to try the Wronski Feint again, again Malfoy streaked after Harry, although he pulled out sooner this time, the crowd were going wild.

Harry soared over the pitch, his elation matching Catalina's excitement, who had just scored again making the score Gryffindor 60 Slytherin's 0. The Slytherin's were playing worse than ever before and dirtier, and Harry watched as Malfoy followed alongside Catalina who was carrying the Quaffle. Harry didn't like what Malfoy was up to so he flew in closer. Suddenly Malfoy pulled in front Catalina, and their brooms clashed mid-air. Catalina screamed out loud, and went cart wheeling over the side of her broom, and was left dangling one handed above the pitch.

'Harry!' she gasped, eye fixed on the floor 50 ft below.

'It's ok' said Harry swallowing against the fear and anger coursing through them.

Harry helped the trembling Catalina onto her broom with the help of Fred and George. Harry, who was trembling with rage, snatched George's beaters club and hurled it at Malfoy head. Unfortunately, and maybe because of Harry's rage, it missed and only hit him in the back.

'Stop! Stop!' shrieked Madam Hooch flying over to break up Harry and Malfoy who were flying towards each other with equal murderous glares.

'Penalty to Gryffindor for deliberate and unprovoked attack on a chaser!' she shouted about to storm of boo's from the Gryffindor's for Malfoy and the Slytherin's.

'And, penalty to Slytherin for the deliberate attack on their seeker!' she screamed, unable to make herself heard above the Gryffindor's booing for a completely different reason.

Alicia Spinnet took the penalty, and managed to score, as did the Slytherin chaser. Harry was unable to contain his rage against Malfoy who was smirking at Harry now, but succeeding in keeping his eye out for the snitch. After a few minutes Catalina's nervousness and sickness, turned into fury, now both of them were flying with building angry. It seemed to fuel Catalina, who shot up and down the pitch furiously passing and scoring.

The Harry saw it, the golden snitch. It was hovering above the Weasley twin's bats that were raised against an approaching bludger. Harry dared not to breathe, in case Malfoy saw what he was doing. Harry flew over to the twins, trying to make it look like he wanted a pep talk, he got with reaching out distance. He stretched out his arm, and his fingers closed against the fluffy snitch. No one seemed to have realised because they carried on passing and scoring. 

Harry laughed softly to himself, then filled his lungs with air.

'OI MALFOY!' he shouted across the pitch.

Malfoy turned to look at him, as well as the Quidditch teams, and the whole stadium. Everyone held their breath.

'LOOKING FOR THIS?' he shouted waving the snitch for the stadium to see.

An explosion of sound filled the stadium, and their cheers of the Gryffindor's drowned out the howls of fury from the Slytherin's.

*

The screaming crowd surged onto the pitch and everyone followed the grinning team up to castle, while Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherin's followed them and glared. The whole team surged into the common room, and they celebrated well into the night.

'Brilliant catch Harry, you should have seen the look on Malfoy's face!' laughed Ron gleefully.

'I didn't even see you get it! You caught us all by surprise' said Hermione, face glowing.

'I couldn't believe it! When I caught it everyone was still playing' laughed Harry to himself.

'Well, I think this calls for a toast,' said Catalina raising her glass of butterbeer that had magically appeared earlier care of Fred and George, 'To Malfoy'

'To Malfoy!' shouted the team, raising their glasses, holding their laughter for a few seconds.

*

AN/ So there we are, sorry I took a bit of a while, do you realise how hard it is to make a realistic Quidditch match? Hopefully this has done the trick! Thanks to all my reviewers, I love you guys sob Right…pulls herself together how do you all think this is going? Feedback is welcome and appreciated!

THANKS TO ALL THESE BEAUTIFUL HOBBITS BELOW!!

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	23. The Cupboard

AN/ Da da da daaaa, Next chapters up, and we've got some excitement happening at last. A little bit of the Amazing bouncing yet still thoroughly evil ferret boy, and a little bit of a scuffle in the Great Hall…well I say scuffle….

~*~*~ Chapter Twenty Four ~*~*~

The Cupboard

'Come on Catalina we'll be late for Herbology!' said Harry trying to drag her away from her breakfast.

'Oh, just a second, I'm starving' said Catalina, quickly shovelling food into her mouth.

'Well you should get up earlier' laughed Harry, eyeing the large clock on the wall.

'Don't worry I'll catch you up, I have to go and put my Quidditch gear in the lockers anyway. Explain to Professor Sprout for me?' said Catalina hurriedly.

'Yeah sure' said Harry jogging out of the hall.

Catalina hurriedly eat her food, very aware that she was nearly the last person in the hall, then grabbing her Quidditch robes and pads ran out of the hall. She was running quickly through the halls, then became aware of a second set of footfalls behind her. She spun around looking for who was following her.

'Who's there?' she called out nervously, casting her eyes around the empty corridors.

'Only me' said a voice of someone standing in the shadows.

'Oh, _you_' said Catalina turning back to small cupboard she was placing her robes in.

'You know, I really don't know what you see in Harry' came the cold voice from behind her.

'And I really don't see what any of that has to do with you' replied Catalina shortly.

'You could have anybody you wanted, you could have powerful friends and allies, but still you choose to associate yourselves with mudbloods, lunatics and disgraces to the wizarding name' said the voice questioningly.

'Do you want something Malfoy?' asked Catalina, refusing to rise to his bait.

'I just want to know what you want out of life' said Malfoy stepping out of the shadows.

'I want friends that love me for who I am, something you won't be familiar with I'm sure' said Catalina scathingly.

'Oh that's harsh Cat, I'm really hurt. Now I'm just trying to offer you something and you just throw it back in my face' he said airily.

'And what's that?' asked Catalina, curious despite herself.

'Power' he said simply.

'Right, and you want me to be just as evil as you, do you?' replied Catalina, trying to push past him, but was skilfully blocked.

'There's no good or evil Catalina, only power' whispered Malfoy leaning over to her, looking intently into her eyes.

'And who taught you that? I bet it was your father, running around Hogsmeade like a good little servant' said Catalina hiding her fear behind her anger.

'How _dare _you. My family are not _servants' _said Malfoy disgustedly.

'Whatever. Look, you can run back to your daddy and tell him that there's no way I would join him and his little gang, ok?' she said sweetly, trying to push past Malfoy again.

'I don't think you quite understand, it's not good or evil, it's glory or death, and which do you want?' whispered Malfoy dangerously.

'Neither, now let me go' she shouted trying to get past him, who blocked her way again.

'Let me go!' she shouted louder.

'Maybe you need some time to think about it?' asked Malfoy gripping her arms tightly, steering her backwards.

'What are you _doing?_' shouted Catalina struggling against his vice-like grip.

Malfoy didn't answer her however, and kept pushing her backwards, towards the small broom cupboard she had been putting her stuff in.

'Please don't' whispered Catalina as she was pushed backwards into the dark room.

The door was slammed shut, and her last image was Malfoy holding her wand in front of her smiling. Darkness descended and the walls of the small room pressed into her. She gulped down a shuddering sob that was threatening to overcome her, and started to shout and kick the door to her prison.

Suddenly light streamed back into the room, and Catalina thanked God for making Malfoy turn back. She knew he couldn't be that inhuman to leave her locked in that small dark space, no one was.

'Nearly forgot something,' he said smiling down at her, '_Silencio_'

The door was slammed shut again, and the darkness descended once again. Catalina tried to scream but no sound came out of her cursed throat. The very texture of the darkness was threatening to choke her, sliding down her throat and suffocating her. She screamed in silent rage and terror, kicking against the door.

'Let me out!' she mouthed, but no one could hear her.

*

Harry was nearly sick with fear. Waves of terror were crashing down on him so hard, that he could hardly walk straight. Catalina had only been out of his sight for 5 minutes, _5 minutes, _when all this fear and terror descended on him. He had ran out of his class closely followed by Ron and Hermione.

'What's wrong?' asked Ron watching Harry looking around the school grounds wildly.

'Catalina's in trouble, she's really scared, she's _terrified'_ whispered Harry, eyes wide and face pale.

'How do you kno – ?' started Ron, completely confused by Harry's behaviour.

'It doesn't matter now, lets just _find _her, _quickly!_' shouted Harry racing up the steps to the entrance hall.

Ron and Hermione raced after Harry who was pounding down the corridors of the school like a maniac.

'She was going to put her Quidditch stuff away before practise' Harry shouted back to them as he raced through the corridors, 'Down here!'

Then they heard it, a desperate thumping against the side of the small cupboard door.

Catalina? Catalina!' shouted Harry as he ran down the corridors towards the door, wrenching at the handle that wouldn't give way.

'Here, _Alohomora_' said Hermione, wrenching the door open.

Catalina fell out in a flurry of robes, into the arms of Harry, who was already reaching out to catch her. She was breathing heavily, but wouldn't say a word.

'Catalina? What happened? What happened?' asked Harry looking into her eyes, trying to get her to speak.

Catalina shook her head and grasped her throat with a shaking hand.

'_Finite Incantem_' said Hermione pointing her wand at Catalina's throat.

Shuddering sobs filled the empty corridor, and Harry held her in his arms, trying to get her to face him.

'What happened?' demanded Harry.

'Malfoy...put me in there…' she said through her sobs of fear.

'What! Why?' demanded Harry, anger flashing through his eyes.

'Wanted me to join...them...to make me think' she whispered, breathing shakily.

'Sshhh, your ok now, your ok' said Harry soothingly, rocking Catalina backwards and forwards.

'Lets take her to the Hospital Wing' said Ron shakily, helping Catalina to her feet.

Harry steadied her as she swayed violently, and he had to stop the fear that was still coursing through them from turning into sickness. He shot a look into the small dark cupboard that had held various pieces of Quidditch equipment as well as the old school brooms. The paper was peeling off the walls and a few of the brooms lay in twisted piles on the floor and many of the boxes were lying in splinters on the floor. He carefully guided Catalina away, wondering just what had happened to her to make her so afraid of small spaces like that, and how that fear had led to the obvious uncontrolled outburst of her magus powers.

Catalina was taken into the Hospital Wing, where she was put into a bed and looked at by Madam Pomfrey.

'Is she ok?' asked Harry anxiously.

'She's just in shock I think, I'm going to go and mix up a sleeping potion. You can go and see her for a few moments' said Madam Pomfrey bustling into her office.

Harry crept around the curtains hiding Catalina's bed, she was lying under the white linen, eyes red rimmed and face pale.

'What happened?' asked Harry again, taking in her distressed state.

'Malfoy asked me to join You-Know-Who, I said I wouldn't, so he said I needed some time – some time to think about it. And he put me in there, and locked the door, and took away my voice, just so I couldn't even cry or get help' she said, tears brimming in her eyes, and spilling down her cheeks. 

She rolled over and pushed her face into her pillow and Harry could do nothing but wait for Madam Pomfrey to return. 

'Here you go drink this up' said Madam Pomfrey soothingly, pushing the goblet into her shaking hand, she took a small gulp before falling back into her bed, fast asleep.

Harry sat with her for a few moments longer, contemplating what had just happened. Malfoy had locked her up in a tiny room, took away her wand and her voice, to prove a point. Harry couldn't get his mind around the sheer inhumanity of what he'd done. Catalina was scared of small spaces, so he'd put her into her worst nightmare, because he wanted her to join Voldemort? How did he think he could get away with this? Harry knew one thing for certain, he _wasn't _going to get away with this.

He stood up suddenly, knocking his chair to the floor. Without even picking it up, he stormed out of the Hospital Wing, ignoring Ron and Hermione chasing him through the corridors. Lunchtime had arrived and people were filling into the Great Hall, and Harry pushed his way through the crowd to see Malfoy standing with his back to him at the dinner table.

Harry marched over to Malfoy, reckless rage pulsing through his body. He reached over and pulled Malfoy round roughly, pushing him against a wall.

'What did you do that for?' Harry hissed at Malfoy, whose eyes held fear but also cruel amusement.

'Do what?' asked Malfoy innocently.

'YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT' bellowed Harry, shoving Malfoy hard up against the wall again.

People were starting to stop their conversations, and were turning to watch the unfolding scene, obviously the teachers hadn't been made aware yet and Harry seized his chance.

'You had no right to do that to her' hissed Harry, face up close to Malfoy's.

'Well, maybe she'll think twice about who she mixes with now' said Malfoy so quietly that no one else around him could hear.

Harry let out a roar of anger and launched his fist into Malfoy's face, slamming him up against the wall. Hands came out of nowhere, and Harry was dimly aware of Ron trying to pull him back.

'No, Let go of me! He deserves this after what he did' shouted Harry desperately trying to prise himself out of Ron's grip.

He managed to break loose, and hurled himself at Malfoy again, Harry could see Crabbe and Goyle pushing their way through the crowd towards Malfoy, as well as various teachers. Snape came hurrying to Harry's side, and tried to pull him away from Malfoy, who was leaning against the wall heavily. Harry was burning with anger and pushed Snape away from him, fighting to get at Malfoy. Snape suddenly went sailing through the air in a mass of robes, propelled by some force stronger than Harry.

'Your evil do you know that? Pure evil!' Harry spat.

'There is no good and evil, only power' Malfoy whispered in Harry's ear.

Harry let out another roar of fury, and tried to get to Malfoy again, this time a stronger grip pulled him away. Harry looked around to see Ron, Fred and George panting against the effort of holding Harry away.

'Leave him, it's not worth getting expelled for' said Ron slowly, keeping eye contact with Harry.

Harry wrenched his arm out of his friends grip, gave Malfoy one last final kick, before storming out of the hall. As he walked out, the huge double doors slammed shut behind him with enough force to shatter every windowpane in the Great Hall.

Ron and Hermione merely stood open mouthed at the wreckage. Shards of glass tinkled to the floor, Malfoy lay on the floor moaning, as was Snape.

'My God' whispered Hermione, eyes wide.


	24. Excuses

AN/ Long time coming I know, so shock discoveries about to be made! House points shall be awarded to the smartasses who knew this was going to happen J 

~*~*~ Chapter Twenty Five ~*~*~

Excuses 

Harry was sat in the Hospital Wing, holding onto Catalina's hand waiting for her to wake up. Angry thoughts about what had just happened were chasing around his head, and he didn't hear the footsteps behind him.

'Mr. Potter I would like you to come up to my office' said Professor McGonagall sharply,

'I should stay here' said Harry quietly.

'She's not going to wake up anytime soon, and when she does you'll be informed, now come with me' said the impatient voice, waiting for Harry to get up.

He was led unwillingly to Professor McGonagall's office, and Harry settled himself down in a small chair opposite his head of house. Thoughts of Malfoy mixed with the fear of his situation, he was only just beginning to realise what he'd truly done.

'Harry, would you like to tell me why you attacked Draco Malfoy, and Professor Snape?' asked Professor McGonagall, peering at Harry over her steeped fingers.

'He deserved it, and I didn't attack Professor Snape' muttered Harry, slouched back in his chair.

'And what did he do?' she asked, eyeing Harry steadily.

Harry remained silent, staring at his clasped hands, he was starting to panic. He couldn't tell Professor McGonagall that he had attacked Malfoy because he tried to get Catalina to join Voldemort, it sounded ridiculous, even in his own head.

'He...insulted Catalina' said Harry lamely, not able to think of a excuse why he'd practically tried to kill Malfoy.

'That's all it was about?' asked McGonagall raising one eyebrow, 'A schoolboy fight?'

Harry nodded his head slowly, cursing himself for covering up for Malfoy, he deserved to be expelled for what he'd done.

'Well I must say, I am deeply, deeply shocked that any Gryffindor could use that kind of behaviour and get away with it. 50 points from Gryffindor, and you will also receive detentions. I will be speaking to the headmaster about this' she said, looking at Harry disapprovingly.

Harry mutely nodded his head again, and sat in the long silence that followed, Professor McGonagall was staring at Harry intently, thoughtfully tapping her fingers against the desk.

'And what of Professor Snape? He told me that you levitated him and threw him across the room when he tried to interrupt you' said Professor McGonagall accusingly.

'I didn't, I would remember, I didn't even get out my wand' admitted Harry, flinching at the thought of Professor McGonagall accusing him of calling a fellow professor a liar.

'I see...you better get back to your dormitory then' said Professor McGonagall, standing up and leading Harry out of her office.

'By the way, what is wrong with Miss Firelight, why is she in the Hospital Wing?' asked Professor McGonagall suspiciously.

'Er...she got herself locked in the broom cupboard by accident, she's scared of small spaces, she was a bit upset' said Harry, hating himself even more. 

Professor McGonagall merely nodded, and pushed Harry out of her office, shutting the door on him. He walked silently back to the hospital wing and found himself an uncomfortable chair and waited for Catalina to wake up.

*

'Er, Professor Dumbledore, we need to talk to you' said Hermione timidly as she stepped over the threshold of Dumbledore's office.

'Of course, come on in' said Dumbledore warmly showing Ron and Hermione into the comfy seats in front of his desk.

Neither of the two wanted to start talking, and Dumbledore sat in silence eyeing the two thoughtfully.

'What is it you want to talk to me about?' he said eventually, staring evenly at the two teenagers.

'Well, it's about what happened in the Great Hall today, about what Harry did?' said Hermione shyly, wondering if Dumbledore even knew what happened.

'Yes I know what you are referring to' said Dumbledore questioningly.

'Well, we were wondering if we could tell you something about what we saw while we were there' said Hermione nervously.

Dumbledore merely nodded, and allowed Hermione to continue, Ron remained silent and stared impassively at his hands throughout the whole meeting.

'Well, when Harry was, er talking to Malfoy, Professor Snape tried to interrupt Harry and I noticed something that completely shocked me, er us' she said motioning to Ron, who was still silent.

'And what was that?' asked Dumbledore, looking between the two teenagers faces, still trying to understand what was happening.

'Well Harry kind of pushed Snape away, with his hands, but Professor Snape went flying through the air, as if he'd used some kind of levitation spell. It definitely wasn't Harry's own strength it was definitely magic' said Hermione in a rush.

'I see, and aside from the obvious fact that Harry attacked a member of staff, why do you find this so shocking?' asked Dumbledore, eyes twinkling but a serious look on his face.

'Because...' Ron cut in suddenly, 'Because Harry didn't even have his wand with him, he left it in class after he ran out looking for Catalina'.

'So what are you saying?' asked Dumbledore, who had already come to an impossible conclusion in his own head.

'I'm saying, Harry did magic without his wand, just like Catalina. I, I mean we, think Harry is a Magus' said Ron staring defiantly into Dumbledore's blue eyes.

A shocked silence filled the room, as the three figures contemplated what had already been decided, but not voiced.

'I think you'd better start at the beginning, tell me what happened today' Dumbledore said finally.

So Hermione and Ron launched into a detailed description of the day's events, telling Dumbledore everything that had happened since Harry ran out of their Herbology lesson that morning.

'...and then he stormed out of the Great Hall, and all the windows and glass in the room just exploded into a million pieces!' finished Hermione, looking fearfully at her headmaster.

'I see,' said Dumbledore sitting back into his chair, thoughtfully stroking his beard, 'And how did Harry know that Catalina was in trouble?'

'We don't know, I just assumed it was because she didn't turn up for class. But the way he acted was really strange, he just jumped up and ran out, looking as if he was about to pass out in fear or something' said Ron, remembering the way Harry had ran out of the greenhouse so suddenly.

'Yeah, he told us "Catalina's in trouble, she's really scared, she's _terrified", _and then ran off. It was like he knew what she was feeling or something' said Hermione, blushing at the very stupid and illogical thing she'd just said.

'Yes, it certainly seems like that' said Dumbledore, ignoring the way Hermione and Ron's mouths dropped open.

'What? You really think…?' asked Ron incredulously.

'I don't know yet, I'll have to talk to Harry. I would like you two to try and talk to Harry, find out what really happened' Dumbledore told them, standing up as he did so.

Ron and Hermione both stood up, and walked over to the door. Just before he did so though he turned around and regarded Dumbledore thoughtfully.

'Do you really think Harry is a Magus?' he asked slowly.

'It seems that maybe more than we think happened after that attack on Halloween, it is possible that some of Catalina's powers were transferred into Harry' he told Ron carefully.

'Right…' said Ron, who turned on his heel and walked out of the office.

Dumbledore shut the door, and walked over to his desk, falling heavily into the chair. He sat for a long time, twirling his wand between his fingers, occasionally putting it towards his head, and extracting silvery lines of light. He directed these into a stone basin that he had placed before him, and gazed at it for a long time. Suddenly he stood up and walked over to the large fireplace. He threw a handful of glittering powder into the merrily crackling flames.

'Sirius, I need to speak with you urgently' 

*

Catalina groggily opened her eyes, and looked around the room slowly. She couldn't make out anything in the inky blackness of the room and she slowly closed her eyes again. She sank deeper into her pillow, as the thoughts and memories of the last few hours crashed into her consciousness. 

She remembered being in a small dark room, and being scared, no terrified, and then someone had found her, rescued her. She cast her mind back over the events, and a pale, laughing face floated in front of her eyes, taunting her. Catalina angrily clenched her fist, and felt with a sudden surprise that a hand was clasped in hers.

She looked around swiftly to her left hand side, and realised with a thrill of fear that no one was sat next to her. She slowly held out a shaking hand, and touched where her hand was supposed to be. Her hand came in contact with a hard surface, and she ran her fingers across it, taking in the feel of silky material. She let out a shaky breath as she realised it was an invisibility cloak. She stared unseeingly at the figure who was lying on the side of the bed, and whose hand still held onto hers.

She reached forward with an educated guess, and pulled the material away. A head of messy black hair came into view, who was fast asleep, head balanced against the cold metal rail of the hospital bed.

'Harry!' she whispered in relief, shaking the boys hand, 'Harry, wake up!'

Harry groaned for a few seconds, then slowly opened his eyes, taking in his surroundings. He suddenly sat bolt upright, instantly alert and looking around fearfully as his cloak slipped off his shoulder even more.

'Catalina! Are you ok?' he whispered anxiously.

'Yeah I'm fine, what are you _doing _here?' she asked, laughing softly as Harry rubbed life back into his dead arm.

'Making sure your ok,' he muttered, blushing in the darkness, 'are you ok? Can you remember what happened?'

'Yeah, I remember' said Catalina distantly, thoughts going back to the eternity she spent locked in her prison.

Harry clenched his fists, anger flashing in his eyes, but softened when he saw Catalina, struggling against tears.

'It was so dark in that place, I was _so _scared, ' she said, blinking against the prickling heat of her eyes.

'I know, I know' said Harry soothingly as he gave her a small hug, 'Don't you worry about it though, I got Malfoy back'

'What did you -?' started Catalina, who was cut off by a sudden noise.

'Who's that? Who's in there?' asked Madam Pomfrey walking into the Hospital Wing, candle in hand.

Catalina looked nervously at where Harry had previously been standing, but she stared at nothing but empty space. 

'Oh you're awake are you? How are you feeling dear?' asked Madam Pomfrey, walking over to Catalina's bed.

'I'm fine' said Catalina with a small smile, as one last squeeze of her hand told her Harry had gone.

*

The next morning Ron and Hermione visited Catalina. They both wore identical looks of worry, and she could see something else lurking in their eyes was it fear? She couldn't tell.

'Hi, how are you feeling?' asked Hermione, smiling as she sat down on the corner of Catalina bed.

'I'm alright now' said Catalina blushing, she felt incredibly stupid at having lost it like that in front of everybody.

'Harry's still in bed, I would have thought he'd be down here bright an early to see you, but no, gotta have his beauty sleep!' said Ron, laughing at his best friend half-heartedly.

'Speaking of Harry…' started Hermione, shooting a glance over to Ron, who merely nodded to Hermione, 'He did something yesterday after you were put to sleep, something I think that we'd rather tell you, rather than some school gossip'

'What?' asked Catalina fearfully, looking at her friends solemn faces.

'After what happened yesterday, Harry sort of...well he...He kind of went…' said Hermione struggling for words.

'Mental' finished Ron, 'He went completely mental, stormed into the Great Hall and practically put Malfoy in his own Hospital Bed. Snape tried to stop him and got thrown across the hall, and Harry stormed out, not before shattering every window and piece of glass in the hall'

Catalina listened to Ron open-mouthed with shock. Ron was staring grimly at her and Hermione had a hand to her mouth as if she still couldn't believe what had happened. She tried to mouth a few comebacks before managing to find her voice again.

'And Malfoy…?' she finally managed to ask.

'He got away with it, Harry took the wrap. He didn't want to tell the teachers what had happened, about You-Know-Who' said Hermione with a look of fear on her face.

'He did what?' asked Catalina incredulously, unable to take in the repercussions of yesterdays attack. 

'Don't worry we told Dumbledore what really happened that day, about Malfoy and everything, he'll probably be talking to you and Harry today' said Ron hurriedly.

Catalina looked between her two friends faces, there was something they weren't telling her, some kind of secret they were hiding. Catalina was about to ask them what was wrong, when Harry chose that moment to come sliding into the Hospital Wing, clearly out of breath.

'Sorry...overslept' said Harry panting.

Hermione covered her giggles with a cough and Ron covered his smile with his hands as they watched Harry hurry over to Catalina's bed and sat down on the bed staring worriedly at her.

'I think we better go and get breakfast' said Ron dragging Hermione towards the door.

Catalina watched Ron and Hermione hurried off towards the Great Hall, laughing between themselves.

'They told me what you did to Malfoy yesterday' she said after a long pause.

'Oh yeah?' said Harry, avoiding her eyes.

'Did it in style didn't you?' she said raising an eyebrow, grinning at Harry's discomfort.

'What do you mean?' he asked confusedly.

'The broken glass everywhere?' she reminded him rolling her eyes.

'Really? I don't remember that…no wonder McGonagall was in such a bad mood!' said Harry laughing with Catalina at his amnesia.

'Yeah, but Ron said Dumbledore understood everything, he'll sort it all out' laughed Catalina, stopping abruptly when she saw the look on Harry's face.

'What?' he asked quickly.

'What? Ron just said he'd spoken to Dumbledore, told him what Malfoy did' she said looking into Harry's angry face.

'Where are you going?' she shouted after Harry's retreating back, who just waved an impatient hand towards her.

Catalina sat back in her bed, listening to Harry's anger, wondering about his sudden change of mood.

*

The Great Hall was nearly full of students chattering happily between themselves when Harry walked in. The noise level suddenly dropped, and students regarded Harry fearfully as he strode purposefully to the Gryffindor table. Harry straddled the bench next to Ron, and looked at his friend intently.

'What's up Harry?' asked Ron, nervously eyeing Harry's blank face.

'What did you tell Dumbledore?' he asked evenly.

'Err...we just told him what Malfoy did, tried to get you out of trouble' said Ron, looking around at the watchful faces of the hall.

'And that's all?' asked Harry carefully, toying with his wand between his fingers.

'Well we just told him everything that happened yesterday' said Ron, eyes fixed on Harry's wand.

'Everything?' asked Harry, eyebrows arched, 'Like what?'

'Just about how you got all worried about Catalina all of a sudden, and stuff...' said Ron, quelling under Harry's furious stare.

'And what did Dumbledore think of all that?' whispered Harry, who had become aware of the staring faces.

'He reckons, you can...you can...feel each other's emotions' he said in a rush, staring at Harry.

'Ron' Harry whispered angrily to his friends, 'That's private and personnel and of no concern of you' 

'It's true?' whispered Ron back incredulously.

'Ron, what else did he tell you?' asked Harry urgently.

'Well we told him about what you did to Snape and he reckons you're a, a, Magus' said Ron, holding his breath.

'I'm a what?' asked Harry loudly, staring at his friend open-mouthed.

*

Harry hadn't returned to the Hospital Wing after the conversation in the Great Hall, his head was swimming with Ron's words. "You're a Magus" kept echoing through his head over and over again. Harry had walked down to the lake and sat on the bank throwing stones into the cold black water.

He sat for a long time, staring at the water, trying to sort out the thoughts in his head. He had attacked a professor without even knowing it, he had smashed all the windows and glass in the Great Hall without knowing it. He felt dangerous, how was he supposed to control something he didn't even know existed inside him. 

'Yeh alright Harry?' asked the large black shadow that had just fallen across his path.

'I'm fine Hagrid' said Harry monotonously.

'Sure yeh are,' said Hagrid, settling onto the bank next to him, 'A lot's happened since I last saw yeh Harry'

'Your telling me' said Harry heavily, thoughts still with his present situation.

'Yeh know Harry, it's not good ter keep things inside. You gotta let them out, tell people. How are we supposed to know what to do, if you don't tell us anything' asked Hagrid slowly.

Harry looked up into Hagrid's large red face, thinking about Hagrid's words. Ever since his argument with Sirius, he had lost the one person he could usually tell important stuff to. Ron and Hermione were trying to do their best, but Harry didn't know if they'd understand. But now Hagrid was offering himself as a sounding board, and Harry was tired of keeping things inside.

'Your right Hagrid, I've just got so much happening to me so quickly, and it's scary, and there's no one who I can tell!' said Harry looking across the black lake.

'Well I'm here now, if yer want to talk?' ask Hagrid also staring across the large lake.

Harry gave Hagrid a slow look and began. He told him everything, about Cedric's death, about the Dursleys deaths, Catalina, Halloween, Malfoy, and Snape. After what seemed like hours of talking Harry finally stopped talking, and there was a long silence.

'So Dumbledore reckons yer a Magus now? Figures…'said Hagrid looking down at Harry.

'What?' asked Harry confusedly.

'Well, when You-know-who gave yeh that scar, he transferred some of his powers into you. It makes sense that when you and Catalina where hit with that curse again, she transferred some of her powers into you' said Hagrid simply.

'I...never thought of that' said Harry slowly, thinking about how simply Hagrid could put the complicated situation.

Harry sat thinking for a few more minutes, it did sort of make sense when he looked at it like that, and Harry had almost forgotten Hagrid was there until he spoke again.

'Yer getting close to Catalina then?' he asked, a small smile twitching at his lips through his great beard.

'Well she's my friend' said Harry defensively, then smiled as he saw Hagrid's expression, 'Sirius isn't too happy about it!'

'Yeah well, you can't live your life how other people want you to, Sirius of all people should know about that' laughed Hagrid to himself.

'Why?' asked Harry curiously, as he watched Hagrid chuckle to himself.

'Well I remember when he was 'ere, took an instant liking to this girl in Ravenclaw, started following her around like a lovesick puppy! Until one day he found out her name, his family and her family were caught up in an old feud, generations old in fact. He hadn't realised who she was, and his family forbade him to speak to her. Of course Sirius being Sirius he carried on, ignoring his and her family' said Hagrid laughing at the memory.

'Oh that's just great, it's "do as I say, not as I do" huh?' asked Harry thinking about Sirius's past.

'Something like that. Now don't yeh worry Harry, it'll all sort itself out. Dumbledore will know what to do, now yeh better get back to Catalina, she'll be worrying about yeh' said Hagrid with a small smile.

'Yeah, I suppose, Thanks for the talk Hagrid, it feels good to talk to someone about it all' said Harry standing up and walking towards the castle.

Harry walked towards the Hospital Wing, heart feeling lighter than it had done in days. He walked over to Catalina and realised with a smile that she was asleep. Her black hair was spread across her pillow, and her face had a bit more colour in it. He sat in the chair he'd sat in last night and watched her sleeping, waiting for her to wake up.

'Hey Harry' came Ron's nervous voice behind him.

'Oh hi Ron, I didn't see you there' said Harry, still looking at Catalina. 

'I'm sorry…about before' said Ron, shifting from foot to foot nervously, 'I was only trying to help'

'Yeah, I know you were, I'm sorry I got so mad with you' said Harry looking up into his friend's face.

'It's OK' said Ron smiling in relief.

'Grab a chair' said Harry motioning beside him.

Ron and Harry stayed in the Hospital Wing during the cold Saturday afternoon, talking for a long time about everything that had happened since Halloween, and the latest revelations.

'So can you really, you know, feel what she's feeling' asked Ron uncomfortably, not sure if it was the right thing to talk about.

'Yeah' Harry admitted eventually, avoiding Ron's eyes.

'Oh…Why didn't you want anyone to know?' asked Ron curiously.

'I don't know, I just thought it was like private you know? I didn't want everyone talking about it and analysing us' said Harry, still trying to sort out his own thoughts.

Ron nodded in understanding and was about to ask another question when Catalina opened a sleepy eye.

'Morning!' said Harry cheerfully, laughing as Catalina sat up trying to figure out the time.

'Calmed down now?' she asked leaning back into her pillows, grinning at Harry.

'Er, yeah, I spoke to Ron about it, it's all fine' he said, noticeably blushing.

'Hi Hermione!' called Catalina, looking over the two boy's head towards the doorway.

'Hey guys' said Hermione nervously, sitting across from Harry and Ron and the other side of Catalina's bed.

Harry sighed as he looked between his friend's nervous faces, and took a deep breath.

'There some stuff we all need to know about, so I'm going to start at the beginning…' began Harry, who was finally ready to stop with the lies and tell his friends the truth.

~*~

AN/ Well there we go, so Harry's a magus! What do you think about that, I know it might have been obvious and a long time coming, but we're getting there! Next post shall be up shortly…

Just one question, What do you guys think of Catalina? Do you like her character, it's hard to write her as she's a little illusive, I mean she knows a million languages and has been everywhere and been n the story since the summer, but how much do we actually know about her? I was just wondering on your opinions of her!


	25. The Deceivers

~*~*~ Chapter Twenty Six ~*~*~

The Deceivers 

'So what's it like?' asked Hermione, who way lying on her bed watching Catalina brush her hair.

'What's what like?' asked Catalina absentmindedly.

'You know, the emotion thing' said Hermione blushing faintly at asking such a personal question.

'Oh...I don't know. How d you mean?' asked Catalina climbing under the heavy blankets and turning to face Hermione.

'I mean, what does it feel like, how do you know what's you, and what's him?' she asked, trying to understand the new concept.

'I don't know' she admitted with a thoughtful look on her face, 'I suppose its like half of you, just feels like normal, like your just feeling your own emotions, but then there's the other half. It's just like feeling your own emotions, except like different. Like different flavours. I can just tell that it's either him or me'

Hermione tried to get her head round the idea, but wasn't succeeding, it just sounded so alien to her.

'You don't mind?' she puzzled.

'Mind? Oh it depends on the situation. Like whenever he passes Malfoy in the corridor he gets really angry, and it's strange because it makes you angry as well. Most of the time though its alright, just like a part of yourself' explained Catalina, with a frown on her face as she tried to concentrate.

'And you don't mind that he can hear you as well? Because all I can think about if how it's like a invasion of your privacy, how he always know what your thinking' said Hermione slowly.

'He doesn't know what I'm thinking, not thoughts just emotions, like happiness and sadness, stuff like that. But you know when I went away to my parents at Christmas, it was horrible. I was on the train I could just feel it slipping away. The further away I got from Hogwarts the less I could feel until when I got home, I couldn't even pick up a single emotion. It was so lonely!' she said sadly.

'It went away?' said Hermione with wonder.

'Yeah, I was so scared because I was awake at the time, and I could feel it leaving me bit by bit and I couldn't hold onto it. It made me feel sick and empty. Harry must have got a huge shock when he woke up and found it' laughed Catalina nervously.

Hermione tried to cast her mind back to the morning after Catalina left, trying to remember what Harry was like.

'God yeah!' said Hermione nodding her head emphatically, 'We thought it was just because you'd gone away, but he was in a foul mood the whole three days'

'Thought as much' laughed Catalina softly.

The didn't speak for so long that Catalina assumed that Hermione had fallen asleep, and she was herself until Hermione spoke again.

'You really like Harry huh?' she said softly, on the edge of sleep.

'You really like Ron huh?' said Catalina after a thoughtful pause.

'Checkmate' said Hermione, laughing softly.

*

It had been a long weekend, but eventually it was time to face the school again, and Harry had no choice but to attend classes again. The fifty points from Gryffindor still stood, but no news as heard about the detentions, and Harry felt Dumbledore had something to do with it. Harry felt a lot better that Ron and Hermione knew the truth, and he felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulder that he didn't even know was there.

The four had been walking down the dungeons on the way to potions, something he was really not looking forward to. Catalina was sharing Harry's dread and they paused outside the door.

'My two favourite people in one lesson' said Harry sarcastically.

'Don't worry, deep breath, grin and bear it' she said squaring her shoulders and walking into the cold classroom. 

Harry followed her in, encouraged by Catalina's bravery, and sat down at his seat without looking around. The class quickly filled the room up, and only when he had to take notes on the potion they were going to concoct, did he raise his eyes. They immediately met the cold black eyes of Snape who was staring at Harry with a mixture of loathing and maybe even fear. Harry quickly averted his gaze, and managed to make his way through the lesson without anything going wrong. Malfoy had spent the lesson sat in the corner of the room, looking warily at Harry, but there was something in the lingering smile on his lips that told Harry he should have hit him a bit harder.

Harry breathed a deep sigh of relief when the end of the class was called, and stood up with Catalina, anxious to get away from both Malfoy and Snape.

'Potter, stay behind for a moment' said Snape icily, and Harry grimly made his way to the front of the class.

Catalina, Ron and Hermione gave him a sympathetic smile before going out the room, and finally Harry was left standing alone in front of Snape's huge wooden desk.

'Potter...twice now you have attacked me, and twice you have been excused in the eyes of the school, but I'll tell you this. You have not got away with it in my eyes' he said cooly, staring at Harry.

Harry didn't say anything, but stared back at Snape. Snape got up and walked round the desk and stood in front of Harry.

'Third time you wont be so lucky Potter' he spat with loathing, 'I won't be made accountable for my actions'

With this Snape swept out of the room silently, and Harry let out a long sigh of relief. He walked slowly out of the room, thinking about his newly acquired 'gift'. He thought, a little guiltily, life was much simpler when Catalina hadn't been around.

'What am I talking about?' Harry asked himself out loud, 'My life's never been simple'

*

'New term, new topic' announced Professor Figg, and the class settled down into their usual seats.

'Turn to Page 547 of your books, and read the introductory paragraph, then get yourself into groups' said Professor Figg as she cleared small areas of tables and chairs around the room.

Harry opened his book to the page given and looked over the title page,

**__**

Fear in the Dark Arts

Fear is one of the greatest weapons that witches and wizards of darkness can control. There are numerous spells, incantations, curses and hexes that can be harnessed for the purpose of darkness. Dementors for example are now used to control dark witches and wizards, but not so long along ago Dementors were on the side of evil. Their weapon is the ability to make people relive their worst experiences in their lives. This is one just example and now spells can take the places of the Dementor.

Bravery and courage can disappear when you are faced with your own worst fears and memories, and even the greatest witches and wizards can be defeated.

Harry looked up and around the class. They had all gone rather pale at the thought of their new topic, and Harry dearly wished they could stay on the shielding charms. He had no love for the idea of facing another Dementor, even if it was in the form of a spell. By the looks from Ron, Hermione and Catalina's faces they didn't either.

'Now all of you, get into groups, and find yourself a space' said Professor Figg, indicating to the newly cleared spaces around the room

Harry and Ron joined Catalina and Hermione in their own space, and got their wands out ready.

'Now the spell I am about to teach you, is not to be used outside this classroom EVER, do you understand that? If I catch anyone even thinking about it, you'll be out of this school faster than you can say 'unfair' got it?' she stated, staring around the pale faced class.

'Now the spell is _Pessimus Cogitato_, and it is part of a group of spells known as the deceivers. They pick a fear from your head, you may not even know you have it, and it is most definitely not your worst fear. Every time the spell is cast upon you, you will find a different fear, and believe me there's more up in your heads than you care to know or acknowledge. Basically when this spell is cast upon you, you will have a vision of a fear, which is so real and lifelike you wont be able to tell the difference between it and reality' said the professor is a dryly

'Now I want one person at a time to be put under the spell, and I want the others in the group to observe, and help the person if needed. Have courage class, OK, you may start now'

Harry turned to his three friends who were by now incredibly pale.

'Oh I don't like the sound of this' murmured Hermione, who was agreed with by three other nodding heads.

'OK who first?' asked Harry looking around his friends. Not surprisingly no one volunteered.

'All right, shortest straw' Harry said, while transfiguring their quills into sticks of different lengths.

They each picked a stick from Harry's clenched hand, and compared them, Ron gave a small groan as he saw the results.

'Your up Ron' said Harry, pulling out his wand.

Ron gave a small nod and stood tall as Harry cast the spell on his best friend. As small ray of black light came out of the end of Harry's wand, and wrapped itself around Ron like a snake. Ron's eyes had clouded only slightly.

'What did you say?' whispered Ron to Harry, whose eyes were now alight with terror.

'What?' asked Harry confusedly, looking at the others.

'NOOOOO!' moaned Ron, sinking to the floor in a pile of robes.

'Ron!' shrieked Hermione falling to his side, 'Take it off Harry!'

Harry was one step ahead and the spell was already being taken off. The three crowded around Ron, who was sitting up on the floor shaking.

'What happened Ron' asked Harry, watching his friend intently.

Ron just shook his head and got to his feet slowly. 

'Who's turn was it next?' he asked steadily, but something of his fear lingered in his eyes.

'Er...Hermione was next' said Harry, understanding his friend's unwillingness to share his fear with everyone.

Hermione gave a small whimper, before the curse was places upon her, this time by Ron. Again the thin snaking line of the black light wound its way around Hermione, and her eyes dimmed.

'W– what?' Hermione stuttered, staring at an unseen figure in front of her.

'No please! Anything but that! Please! Please! Stop it!' begged Hermione, as tears formed in her eyes. 

Ron soon lifted the spell, and Hermione gave a small sob, before straightening up. She let out a long shuddering breath before speaking.

'Harry its your go' she said in a small voice.

'Harry's heart dropped but he stepped forward resolutely. He watched as Catalina stepped forward and uttered the curse. Everything was exactly the same as before, and Harry thought for a moment that the spell hadn't worked. Just then Ron stepped forward clutching something in his hands.

'I'm really sorry Harry' he whispered as he handed over the small piece of paper he was clutching.

Harry looked down at the piece of paper in his hands, and felt his legs give way. It was an article from the Daily Prophet. A picture of his godfather was framed by the bold title proclaiming _'Black captured and Kiss performed' _. Harry gave a dry sob as he stared at the impassive face of his godfather, who was now as good as dead, before sinking to his knees.

Suddenly the piece of paper vanished, and he looked up to see his three friends kneeling beside him. Harry swallowed against the sickness building up in his stomach, and climbed to his feet. He glanced over to Catalina who was also pale faced, he'd forgot that Catalina would feel all that as well.

'Sorry' he mumbled watching her push as strand of hair out her eyes with a shaking hand.

'No problem' she said defiantly, 'I'll get you back'

Catalina gave a small grin before Hermione put the spell on her. The black light snaked around her, and Harry watched as a thinner beam, attached itself to his wrist, and started creeping up his arm. He shot a startled look at Hermione and Ron, but they were focused on Catalina.

She had sank to the floor, and both hand were trying to shake something invisible to the other three. Tears were pouring down her face, and cold fear and dread were building inside Harry, who felt like falling to the floor as well. Catalina sank forward and her hair hid her from the view of the others as she cried into her hands.

'Hermione, stop it!' said Harry anxiously.

Hermione lifted the spell, and Catalina slowly got to her sat up. Her hair fell from her face and she wiped away the tears. Harry pulled her to her feet, and gave her hand a squeeze. The four stood in a circle for a few minutes clearing their minds, then looked around the class. The rest of the class were in similar states, and Parvati Patil was lying on the floor sobbing her heart out. Soon all the class was free from the curse, and were glaring at the professor.

'What was the point of that eh?' asked Seamus angrily.

Harry and the rest of the class agreed with Seamus. They hadn't been taught how to fight the curse, or learnt anything from it.

'Class, I put you through that not only to show you what it feels like it, but how to recognise it. There are ways to stop the curse, which I will be teaching you soon. But that's it for now, get yourselves down to dinner, and have a big meal, it'll make you feel better' said Professor Figg soothingly.

The whole class trooped out of the room, and made their way to dinner in silence. It wasn't until pudding that anyone spoke.

'If that's what going to be happening every class, I don't think I'll be turning up to them' said Ron moodily, stabbing his apple pie with his fork.

It was a sign of how much everyone had hated the class when even Hermione agreed. 

*

'Hermione? Can I ask you something?' asked Catalina that night, as they lay in the darkness of the dorm.

'Sure go ahead' said Hermione, pulling the covers closer to her.

'What did you see today? When we had that deceiver put on us?' she asked.

'Oh… I saw someone was being tortured by a Death Eater, and I couldn't stop it' said Hermione quietly, tears forming at the vivid images in front of her eyes.

They sat in quiet for a few moments, then Catalina hesitantly spoke up.

'Was it Ron?' she asked.

The silence that entered the room once again and Catalina took this as a yes. She shuddered herself at the thought.

'What did you see?' Hermione asked after a brief pause.

'Harry', Catalina whispered, 'Dead'

It was an uncomfortable silence that filled the room, which was eventually filled by the sounds of two fitful sleepers.

*

Harry's own experience stayed firmly in his head, and he took the decision to visit Dumbledore the next morning. It was when he was sitting in the small cosy headmaster's office that Harry felt calmed for the first time.

'I need to speak to Sirius' Harry said as he sat in the plush red chair.

Dumbledore gave him a thoughtful stare before standing up and walking over to the fireplace. He threw a handful of glittering powder into the fire. 

'Sirius can I have a word' he said to the flames.

A few moments later, Sirius stepped out of the fire, and he looked up to the headmaster.

'What's – ?' he asked, before his eyes settled to Harry sitting in the chair.

'I think I'll go down and check on the kitchens' said Dumbledore backing away the two and heading out of the door. Harry heard him magically lock the door before moving away down the stairs. Sirius walked over to the chair opposite Harry and sat down in it.

'I'm sorry I shouted at you' said Harry after a few moments of silence.

'Oh' said Sirius, clearly surprised, "Ok…"

'Yeah, I was just angry at the time, and I want things to be back to like before' he said, concentrating on picking a piece of cotton from the fraying arm of the chair.

'Sure Harry, and I'm sorry for making you angry' said Sirius studying Harry thoughtfully, 'Why the sudden change of heart?'

'Oh, something just made me see the light I suppose' said Harry evasively.

'OK' said Sirius sitting back with a smile on his face.

'Are you safe where you are?' asked Harry urgently whose thoughts kept returning to the Daily Prophet article.

'Perfectly safe Harry, don't worry' said Sirius in a calm voice.

Harry nodded thoughtfully and they returned back to silence.

'I better go now, Ron, Hermione and Catalina will be wondering where I am' said Harry picking up his bag.

Sirius eyes darkened at the mention of Catalina's name, but had enough sense not to say anything. He was amazed at how quickly it had turned from Harry, Ron and Hermione, to the four of them. And how easily the names fitted together, and how strange it seemed when Catalina's name wasn't included. Sirius sighed at the memory of his own group. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. Was history destined to repeat itself? Sirius thought as he walked over to the fireplace. We'll know soon enough, he thought as flames tickled his ankles as he stepped into the fire.

*

AN/ There we go another installment done…And to the reviewer who asked why Catalina didn't use her magus powers to escape form the cupboard in the last chapter, there is an answer to that. I think if you have a phobia, like claustrophobia, and you were subjected to it, it really wouldn't matter what powers you had, you'd go completely mental in a way. 

So in answer to your question, she was so terrified she couldn't use her powers, but they leaked out anyway, like they do in times of deep emotional distress, when all the damage was done to the inside of the cupboard.

Sound plausible?


	26. Betrayal

AN/ Dedicated to all my impatient reviewers! You guys are lovely, and you're the reason I'm writing this basically. 

Time for a change in the direction of the plot I feel…tell me what you think of the latest development…

~*~*~ Chapter Twenty Seven ~*~*~

Betrayal 

Life inside the castle continued with whatever passed for normalcy there, and the world outside Hogwarts was sheltered from them, with small insights only occurring in the regular letters from the Weasley's, the Daily Prophet reports, and the Order of the Phoenix meetings. However, life outside the castle was nearly as quiet as life inside the castle, and while no news of Voldemort was definitely good news, it left Harry with an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

The four of them were sitting in the common room one-day trying to do homework, while a blizzard raged outside. Ron and Harry had abandoned Potions for a game of chess, which was becoming increasingly violent. Harry was nervously eyeing Ron's Bishop, who was looking particularly shifty when Catalina strolled over.

'Harry can I borrow a quill, mine just snapped, and I don't really feel like disturbing Hermione' she said pointing to the hunched figure of Hermione behind a tower of books.

OWLS weren't for another four months, but a manic energy seemed to have possessed Hermione who was now sitting in her seat by the fire every night without fail, surrounding by towers of parchment and books.

'Sure, there's a spare one in my bag' aid Harry kicking his bag unceremoniously over towards Catalina.

She started to rummage around and finally pulled out a quill, as well as something else.

'Your carrying this heap of junk around with you?' she asked, eyebrow raised.

Harry glanced over the thing held in Catalina's hand before turning his attention back to Ron's bishop, who as suspected, was now attacking his queen with its crucifix.

'Its not junk, it works perfectly fine!' said Harry, wincing as his queen fell limply to the boards floor.

'You got it working?' she asked turning the snow globe shaped object in her hand.

'Yeah, guess I must have forgot to tell you. Just tap it with your wand and say _Retego_' said Harry, who was plotting his revenge against the violent bishop.

Catalina sat next to the two, stone in hand. 

'_Retego_'she whispered, as she pointed a finger at the stone, watching the white light arch towards the stone

'Hey cool' said Ron, watching Catalina wide eyed. Harry took the opportunity to finally wrestle Ron bishop to the ground with his knight, before it stabbed it repeatedly with its lance.

Ron's face fell when he saw the wreckage of what had once been his best player, and glared at Harry, who was staring innocently at the ceiling twiddling his thumbs.

'If the smoke goes purple it's the past, and if it goes green its the future' said Harry watching her looking at the stone.

'We reckon it shows you past and future alternatively, but we have tried asking for anything else yet' added Ron, and his other bishop crept behind Harry's castle.

Harry turned back to game in hand, groaning as his castle was beaten mercilessly by the former bishop's twin to the floor.

Catalina however was absorbed into the stone. The first time she'd looked at it she'd seen an hour in the past, and had seen Ron and Harry playing chess. The number of Harry's pieces on the board told her they hadn't been playing long.

'_Retego futura_' she commanded the stone, as watched as the green mist parted and showed her the common room in an hour's time. She saw herself walking up the stairs to the dormitory, watched closely by Harry.

'Right she's gone, lets go' said Ron distantly, standing up. 

'Come on then' said Harry heavily, before the silver mist closed in on the scene.

Desperate to know more she commanded the stone to reveal the future again, and caught Harry, Ron and Hermione disappearing beneath and invisibility cloak, and watched as the portrait opened and swung shut again. Then the silver mist appeared again.

'Did I win my game' came a voice to the side of Catalina.

'What?' she asked looking over to Ron.

'Did the stone show if I win my game?' asked Ron again.

'Oh I, er, I didn't see' lied Catalina, whose thoughts were still with the images in the stone.

She became angry with the other three in the time that passed from her vision of the future. They were keeping secrets from her, and she didn't like it. Harry was shooting her thoughtful glances, and Catalina wished for the first time she could shield her emotions from Harry.

'I'm going to bed' she said shortly, heading up the stairs.

'Right she's gone, lets go' said Ron as he saw her disappear into the dormitory, standing up. 

'Come on then' said Harry heavily, pulling out his invisibility cloak from under the chair.

He shrouded himself and his two friends under the cloak, noting that it was getting a lot smaller for them now, and headed towards the portrait hole. Their silent procession to Dumbledore's office gave Harry time to think about Catalina. She had been angry ever since she had looked into the stone, and he wondered briefly what she'd seen, before they reached the gargoyle.

They gave the password and headed up the stairs, and seating themselves in the gathering group of teachers and Phoenix members. While they waited for a few late arrivals Harry suddenly had a thought. After doing a quick calculation in his head he realised Catalina must have seen them disappearing under the cloak. He sighed as he understood why she was so angry, she thought they were keeping secrets from her, and doing things without her.

It was then we he also had another thought. If that was him, he'd want to find out what the others were up to. He looked around the room, at the long line of people in chairs, of which he was at the end. Harry casually ran his fingers through his hair, before dropping his arm over the side of the chair. The satisfyingly solid patch of air confirmed his suspicions, which were further strengthened by a small gasp coming from nowhere. He turned and looked down at the vacant position with a small smile on his face. Pretending to have an untied shoelace, he bent down and looked to his left.

'You really shouldn't be here you know' he whispered before sitting upright.

Dumbledore chose that moment to begin the meeting and Harry had no choice but to listen. 'We have no news from the Ministry about the attack last weekend in Dorset' said Dumbledore heavily looking around the assembled figures.

'Now, this was the first attack we have seen since Hogsmeade, and we are prepared to bet it wasn't authorised. So this leads us to the question, what is Voldemort planning?' asked Dumbledore.

'I believe that's he is planning something big, so we have to be ready' said an auburn haired witch at the other end of the line.

This statement was greeted by nods from nearly everyone around the desk, and everyone looked to Dumbledore.

'I believe your right, what we have to do now is find out what. Our man on the inside tells us that there has been an increase in activity over the past few weeks. Now we have a list of known Death Eaters, and I would like you to get close to these people, follow them, try and find out what their up to. Fletcher, I'm assigning you Avery, and Snape I'm assigning you Lucius Malfoy. After his son's attack on Catalina Firelight, we know for sure that he is deeply involved' he said.

Harry heard Catalina gave a small gasp, which Harry managed to cover by coughing loudly, and unimpressively.

'After the attack on Miss Firelight, I'm sure you will appreciate my reasons behind this. Speaking of the Firelight family. I have been in contact with Charles this morning, and he believes they are nearly ready to come out of hiding and return to Firelight manor. I have tried to dissuade him, but he is adamant. In that case, we will need everyone we can spare on the first day of next month when they are to move in, to strengthen the charms around the manor, and protect them on their way' Dumbledore explained.

Harry could feel Catalina's panic, worry and even anger as she sat next to him, and he sent a warning glance to wherever he thought her head was. 

'From what I can deduce, Miss Firelight seems to have become a target to the Death Eaters, after the attack on Hogsmeade on Halloween' Dumbledore stated to the shocked faces.

'What?' asked Harry angrily standing up, 'When were you planning on telling us?'

'Harry, I just did, now don't worry. There are numerous charms and protection spells on this castle and on her. She's safest here. And since you can now feel her emotions, we are forewarned if anything has happened to her' Dumbledore told him.

Harry sat down slowly, trying to ignore the small smiles of the other adult members of the Order. He could hear Catalina panic even louder now, but it was nearly being drowned out by his own worry. He could cope with himself being a target, but not Catalina.

'Now if that's all, you may all go, we'll meet back here same time next week ok?' said Dumbledore rising.

Harry quickly stood up, preventing people from trampling Catalina, and led her out of the office, and down the staircase. When they reached the bottom, Harry threw the cloak over his friends and himself and made his way towards the common room.

'Don't worry about Catalina' said Hermione to Harry, 'She's safe here'

Harry merely nodded, and watched his friends go up into their dorms.

'Coming Harry?' shouted Ron down the stairs.

'Nah, I'll be up in a minute' said Harry, sitting in the silence.

'OK Catalina, stop hiding' said Harry to the empty common room.

'I wouldn't be hiding if you were straight with me' came Catalina's voice from behind him.

Harry spun around to see Catalina pulling off her cloak, with a furious look of anger on her face.

'I wasn't allowed to tell you' said Harry calmly, trying to avoid aggravating Catalina even more.

'You go up there every week to discuss me and my family, and you don't think I should know? Were you going to tell me I was in danger? Or am I not allowed to know that either?' she asked furiously.

'Of course I was going to tell you' Harry answered, nearly being pushed back by the force of her anger. He had felt her this angry before, but not directed at him. It was a new, and unpleasant experience, and what's more he had no idea how to make it better.

'Yeah right' Catalina sneered, balling the cloak up in her hands and heading towards her dorm.

'Look Catalina,' pleaded Harry grabbing her arm, 'let me explain'

'Let go of me' she cried pulling her arm from Harry's grip.

'You've been telling a room full of strangers all about me, personal things Harry' she hissed, cats eyes flashing.

'Catalina listen –' began Harry, but was cut off by her furious voice.

'Leave me alone Harry' she whispered angrily before heading towards her dorm again

Harry made another move to grab her, he had to explain things to her, she'd got the wrong end of the stick.

'Get away from me Harry, I don't want _you_ anywhere near me!' she shrieked twisting out of his grip and running up the stairs out of sight.

Harry stood in the same position for a few minutes, staring at where Catalina had just disappeared. Catalina's fury was washing over him in waves, and he felt so guilty and upset that he felt like he was about to be sick. He slowly climbed the stairs to his dorm, and sat on the edge of his bed. 

'What was all that about?' asked Ron sleepily, 'I heard shouting'

'Nothing' said Harry shortly, pulling the curtains around his bed.

It took him a long time to get to asleep, thoughts of his argument with Catalina were swimming through his head. He had no idea what to do now, he had to explain to her somehow. But Catalina's angry voice kept filling his head. 

__

Get away from me Harry, I don't want you anywhere near me! 

Harry turned over a groaned, how was he supposed to sort this out?


	27. The Meeting

~*~*~ Chapter Twenty Eight ~*~*~

The Meeting

'What can you tell me?' came the high cold voice.

Harry looked around to see none other than Voldemort, sitting in a high back, moth eaten chair than reminded him strongly of a throne. He was staring into Voldemorts red eyes, which was looking through Harry to someone behind him. Harry tried to turn around to see who Voldemort was talking to, but found invisible strings holding him back.

'I have seen something in the crystal, something that may interest you' came a high pitched female voice from behind Harry.

'Yes, yes, get on with it' snapped Voldemort impatiently.

'It is about the boy. We knew the failed attack on him at Halloween was because of the spell cast between him and the girl. Since then I have been meditating on the subject, trying to find the name of that spell' the diviner said.

'And what was that spell?' queried Voldemort, sitting forward, red eyes alight with curiosity.

'It is no spell, my lord. But something much worse, but something we could use to our advantage"

"Well?" asked Voldemort, leaning forward.

"It is love my lord' came the voice.

'Love?' shouted Voldemort, who began laughing in a high, cold voice at the thought 'The boy has love in his soul – he is weak'

'Catalina Firelight,' said the voice, holding out a crystal globe, inside was an image of Catalina standing up, dressed in her dress robes 'Is the way to Harry Potter…' 

Harry sat bolt upright in bed, breathing heavily. The dream he'd had was so vivid and he could picture every detail of the room it was in. He lent over the side of his bed, a pulled some parchment towards him and flourished his quill. He immediately began to sketch the house as he saw it in his dream, leaving out the figure of Voldemort. He watched his hand as it drew the scene while thoughts exploded in his head, begging for his attention. Voldemort was after Catalina, because he...because he _loved _her. Harry shook his head to himself, he couldn't believe it, how could Voldemort know when he didn't even know?

Harry finished his sketch and laid it on his bedside table. He sat back in his bed, trying to get back to sleep, but his turbulent mind keep sleep away. He got dressed quickly and sat in the common room, his sketch clutched in his hand. Silently he cursed himself, it was his fault Catalina was in danger, he led Voldemort to her, and it was all because of him.

*

Harry was completely lost in thoughts the next day, his feet led the way to every class, and he worked quietly and slowly, not seeing the pages of his books. Hermione and Ron had tried to talk to him several times, but he had merely ignored them. He had been to see Professor Dumbledore that morning, and had shown him the sketch. He had told him what Voldemort said, about how Catalina was in danger, but not why. He refused to believe it himself, let alone tell anyone else. Harry got the feeling Dumbledore knew more than he was letting on, but if he did he didn't say anything. 

Dumbledore had told Harry to be ready to leave Hogwarts that night on the Hogwarts Express, to a meeting of the entire Order of the Phoenix. The prospect was not a good one, and as he wrapped himself in his travelling cloak he caught sight of Catalina, making her way to her dorm, ignoring Hermione who had just tried to speak with her. Harry jogged over to her, hoping desperately she would talk to him.

'Er, Catalina' started Harry, unsure of what to say now he was facing her.

'What?' she snapped turning round to face him, before she took in his travelling cloak, 'Where are you going?

'Were going to a, er, meeting' said Harry nervously.

'Well, thank you for telling me' said Catalina sarcastically before turning to go to her dormitory.

'Be careful won't you?' called Harry anxiously to her retreating back, before walking away to join Ron and Hermione by the door ready to go. Catalina watched from the top of the stairs as they climbed out of the portrait hole.

*

Harry watched the trees flashed past the train window as they rode through the Scottish countryside. Ron and Hermione were pale faced and nervous, talking slowly between themselves about the meeting. They had only ever been in the meeting hall once, and only for a short time. The prospect of sitting with all those powerful witches and wizards was daunting to say the least, and the news they were to be giving was even worse.

Professor Figg was accompanying the three on the train, and was sitting in the corner away from them in deep thought. Harry wondered why he had never bothered to talk to Professor Figg, he had known her for as long as he could remember, and she could undoubtedly answer many questions he had about his parents. The year had gone so fast, and so much had happened, that Harry hardly had time for anything. 

He had lost touch with so many people. Hagrid, Professor Figg, even Sirius. Harry promised himself that if he made it through this year, that next year would be different. He would forget all about Catalina, and concentrate on those he had forgotten. Harry knew deep down that he wouldn't forget about Catalina, but he had to try, for the sake of his sanity.

However, the feeling of Catalina's emotions gradually leaving him as the train progressed down the length of the country, told him he'd never be able to forget her. They had started slipping away so gradually that Harry hadn't noticed at first, but the cocktail of anger and fury started to dim, till when they approached muggle London they were all but gone. It was a terrifying feeling – he'd felt it before, but nothing prepared him for it when it happened. At least Catalina will be enjoying another day of freedom thought Harry bitterly as he stared into space. His thought returned to his dream the previous night and the revelation made by Voldemorts seer. Did he love Catalina? He had never thought about it before, but the prospect of loosing her to Voldemort or the world made him sick.

Just before they reached Platform 9¾ Professor Figg handed them all a set of red robes, trimmed with gold. Harry took his in his hand and stared down at the emblem of the Phoenix rising from the ashes, thinking about Fawkes Dumbledore's phoenix.

'Don't worry you three,' said Professor Figg kindly sensing their nerves, 'You are just as valid members of the Order as any other wizard or witch, but I know it must be hard for you. To have to live up to such expectations at your age is something none of us expected. However, such are the times we live in'

Harry pondered over the strange saying as he climbed out of the carriage onto the platform. Such are the times we live in. It was fitting and oh how true. When they stepped onto the platform they were handed a portkey by a wizened old guard, who stepped aside as Harry, Ron, Hermione and Professor Figg were transported into the long, stone meeting hall of the Order of the Phoenix. 

Harry watched as witches and wizards arrived in a flash of red and gold robes, and greeted each other. Harry was lost in thoughts of his parents and how they could have done the same thing to notice two people approaching him.

'Harry! How are you feeling?' asked Sirius, sweeping him up into a hug.

'I'm fine Sirius, hi professor' said Harry smiling over Sirius shoulder to Remus Lupin, who was smiling amicably at the two.

'I keep telling you Harry, I'm not your professor anymore! Call me Remus, or Moony' laughed Lupin, pushing his greying hair from his eyes.

'Harry, you look a little ill' said Sirius, concern filling his large brown eyes.

'I'm fine' said Harry, thinking about his shaking legs and the reason behind it, but he didn't tell Sirius or Lupin that Catalina was making him ill.

Hermione walked over and joined Harry, talking excitedly with Lupin. Harry looked around to see Ron surrounded by his family. Mr and Mrs Weasley had pulled him into a hug, and Percy, Bill and Charlie were standing next to him. Mrs Weasley looked pale and worried, and Mr Weasley looked equally as anxious, they were both clutching their son, as if they never meant to let go.

Harry turned back to Sirius, meaning to ask what was going to happen next, when Dumbledore began to speak. 

'Thank you for all coming at such short notice. We have a lot to discuss, and I think the time of reckoning is upon us. Please sit down,' he said formally, smiling towards Harry, Ron and Hermione as they took their seats together.

'Friday the 19th of May' stated Dumbledore to the seated figures, who shifted uncomfortably at the news.

'This is the night our sources say something big is planned. There has been an increase in Death Eater activity, and a number of other events have been brought to my attention, which need to be addressed. This means that we must strike then, to prevent a major catastrophe. So I have come up with a plan. Now I believe that Miss Firelight and her family will be the main targets, such a high power family must seem like a huge threat to Voldemort. A vision by one of the Orders members has confirmed this' said Dumbledore, whose eyes flickered briefly in his direction.

'I have made plans for Miss Firelight to be kept in a magical containment field inside the castle, where nothing can touch her. I would like a large group to go and protect the Firelight's at their manor' Dumbledore told the Phoenix members.

Harry felt his heart pounding uncomfortably at the thought of Catalina being in such serious danger, and both Ron and Hermione grimaced.

'This is the key to the whole operation' started Dumbledore seriously, 'We are going to hit Voldemort at the manor house he took over earlier this year. I believe he has been using Riddle Manor, his childhood home as his hideout for at least a year if not more. Again a vision by a member has confirmed this, and scouts sent to the manor have also proven this fact. As you all know now, Tom Riddle, a once brilliant student in Hogwarts, was Voldemorts younger self, and he has obviously chosen this Manor for nostalgic reasons, not least of which is the fact that is where he murdered his father and grandparents.' 

Dumbledore's statement was met by shocked silence. Many had known that eventually the time would come for them to fight with the Dark Lord and his servants, but the date, in only a week's time had a huge impact on the members.

'75 of the members will follow me into the Manor, our aim is to capture as many Death Eaters as possible, and return them to a secure location. Any questions?'

Again there was silence, and Dumbledore stared around the vast hall. Harry had a question but the thought of addressing Dumbledore in front of all these people made the nausea in his stomach double. He decided to swallow his nerves and he raised his hand.

'Er Professor? What are we going to do about Voldemort? He won't sit back and watch you take away the Death Eaters. People could get killed' said Harry nervously.

'You are right Harry, Voldemort will not sit back and watch. That is why 10 Phoenix members will come with me and disable Voldemort while the others do their work. These people will be the trained Obliviators we have working for us from the ministry, including the Unspeakable's. These 10 trained hit wizards should be able to disarm Voldemort while the plan is being carried out' explained Dumbledore, indicating to the group of grim faced wizards and witches sitting at the far end of the table.

A barrage of questions rained down on Dumbledore by the members emboldened by Harry's courage to be the first to speak. Nearly everyone had a question relating from everything to the methods of transportation for the members to the Manor, to the most effective types of curses and hexes to use. Harry, Ron and Hermione listened attentively, and soon the object of the discussion turned to them. One member stood up to make his comments heard over the babble of voices discussing the attack.

'And what of the children?' asked the wizard, looking down towards the three.

Harry glared at the man, disliking him instantly. It was the way the wizard said 'children' in such a condescending tone, as if they were a burden on the whole Order.

'The two wizards and a witch will be remaining at Hogwarts during the attack. I do not want to put them in such a dangerous position' said Dumbledore calmly, but glaring at the man.

'Hey, wait a minute!' said Harry jumping to his feet, who was quickly joined by Ron and Hermione.

'You can leave us behind' shouted Ron to the gradually quieting room.

'You will be a liability, you do not have what it takes to stand up to Death Eaters and Voldemort' laughed the man who had spoken originally.

'Excuse me?' spluttered Hermione incredulously.

'For your information,' shouted Harry, 'I have faced Voldemort enough to know what to expect! I have duelled with him on four separate occasions! And we have all fought Death Eaters before!'

'I'm not saying you haven't been lucky, I'm just saying – 'started the man, who was cut off by Sirius's voice.

'Sit down and shut up MacArthur, you don't know what your talking about. Harry, Ron and Hermione are just as capable as any of you people in this room. When we accepted them into the Order, we said we would treat them as any other member. That means showing them the proper respect due!' barked Sirius, who was glaring at the wizard.

'All of you be quiet. I will be talking to Harry, Ron and Hermione at the end of the meeting. And _I w_ill be deciding if they will join us. Now does anyone have any relevant questions?' asked Dumbledore, who eyes were thoughtful as he glanced at Harry and the others.

'How are we capturing and returning these Death Eaters to a secure place?' asked an auburn haired witch, when the whispering concerning Harry, Ron and Hermione had died down.

'Ah, for this I will ask Mr Jurczenko to take the floor' said Dumbledore indicating to a tall wizard standing to his feet clutching a purple velvet bag.

'These,' said the man holding up what looked like a small metal tennis ball, 'are a new invention by the Ministry of Magic's inventions department. They're a form of portkey, used to transport someone to a predestined place, but at any time'

The bag was emptied, and the contents passed around the table. One of the new portkey's was pressed into his hands and he studied it closely. It was the same size as a tennis ball, and completely smooth, save for a small blue button flush to the surface.

'To activate them, simply press the blue buttons and throw at the person you which to transport. The will detonate in ten seconds. And now if Albus will allow me, I shall give you a demonstration' said the man in a slightly Russian accent.

Dumbledore simply nodded his head and stepped forward, offering himself as a guinea pig. The tall wizard picked up a ball, pressed the button and counted down, turning to face the headmaster.

'...3...2...1' said the man, hurling the ball at the headmaster on 2. 

The ball hit Dumbledore in the chest and thin red lines of light wrapped around the headmaster, who was bound tight, before he disappeared. Instantly Dumbledore appeared across the other side of the room, amid applause from the entire room. Dumbledore took a sweeping bow and Harry couldn't help but smile at the old mans theatrics.

'Thank you, thank you,' smiled Dumbledore, 'Now, I believe we have enough for 5 balls each, correct?'

'Correct' replied the inventor, as a red velvet bag appeared in front of every Order member at the flick of his wand. Harry reached for his, loosened the cord and counted five glisten balls. Harry drew his attention back to the discussion, trying to listen to every argument and tip offered by the Order. The meeting was not dismissed until nearly 2 am in the morning. Dumbledore kept Harry, Ron and Hermione back to talk them through their plans.

'…and Catalina will be safe?' asked Harry anxiously for the third time.

'Yes perfectly safe. The magical barrier we have created will completely protect her from nearly all curses, but we believe one of the drawbacks could be that the connection between you and her will be temporarily severed' Dumbledore explained gently.

Harry nodded to show he understood. At least Catalina will get what she wants thought Harry grimly, she'll be severed for another whole day. Harry managed to drag his thoughts back to the speech Dumbledore was giving them.

'...10 Phoenix members will be guarding over Catalina, and she will be placed in my office for the day. Now are you all sure that you want to come with us? It is ridiculous to expect three fifth years to face Death Eaters!' he said, fear creeping into his blue eyes.

'No! We want to help!' said Ron fiercely.

Harry and Hermione agreed, against their better judgment, and the date was set. The 19th of May was only a week away, and they needed to prepare for war.

AN/ How you like people? Things are getting a bit darker now, and the dates been set for the wars. The actual war has only been partially written, so any thoughts on what should happen will be greatly appreciated and duly noted!

Thank you all my wonderful Hobbits! 

Kisses, Kisses


	28. The Declaration

~*~*~ Chapter Twenty Nine ~*~*~

The Declaration

With Catalina's upcoming imprisonment, Harry felt the need to sort things out with her even more than usual. All he could think about was what if either of them was hurt, and he never saw her again, and the last things they'd said to each other were angry words. So the next evening, when Catalina had disappeared to the Astronomy Tower, Harry decided to follow her, and sort things out.

He pulled the invisibility cloak around his shoulders and pulled out the Marauders Map, which he squinted at it in the dark. He saw a tiny figure labelled 'Catalina Firelight' heading towards the astronomy tower, pausing every now and again to avoid Filch and Mrs. Norris. Harry took a deep breath and followed, still not sure whether he was doing the right thing.

Checking the map every few minutes, he made his way towards the tower, trying to calm his pounding heart. He climbed the tower steps slowly, and paused before pushing the door open. He saw Catalina standing at the edge of the tower, looking up into the sky. Harry pulled off his cloak and was about to announce his presence when Catalina spoke up.

'Why can't you just leave me alone Harry?' she asked softly, back still turned to him. 

Harry didn't know what to say to that so he merely stood, shivering against the cold air touching his skin through his thin robe. At least she was talking quietly instead of screaming, but when he thought about it, he didn't really know which was better.

'I always come up here you know, to look at the stars. Its something you can always depend on you know, the stars I mean. They'll always be there, you might not be able to see them sometimes, but they'll be there. Something you can trust' she said quietly.

Harry looked up into the sky as well, sensing the meaning behind her words, and gave a guilty squirm.

'You know the one thing I hate?' she asked him.

'No, what?' he asked finally.

'Secrets. Liars. People going behind my back' she said icily.

'You've never kept secrets?' he asked finally.

'Not from the people that really matter,' she stated, still staring into the sky, 'not like you Harry, you live a life of secrets'.

'I don't' 

'Things you don't even tell Ron and Hermione. You keep the world away from you. It seems to me that the boy who lived is forgetting to live. Why is that Harry?' she asked turning to him.

Harry watched her for a few moments thinking about what she said. The bright moon shone down on her pale skin, and her eyes glittered.

'You're the one pushing the world away from you. Are you going to spend you whole life hidden away from me? I kept one secret from you, which if you let me explain you would understand' said Harry stepping forward.

Catalina took a step back, 'Harry I don't care anymore. I'm tired of all this. If there's anything my whole friendship with you has taught me, is not to count your blessings. I give up'

'No you can't!' said Harry watching her walk past him and towards the door.

'You cant tell me what to do Harry. I'm leaving, I told you I give up' she said.

'No!' said Harry moving in front of her path, barring her way.

'Harry what -?' started Catalina before Harry cut her off.

'No more secrets! No more! I promise I'll tell you everything! Everything…in my first year I sneaked out three nights in a row, just to watch my parents in this enchanted mirror! Second year I took polyjuice potion to sneak into the Slytherin common room! Third year, I went back three hours in time to save Sirius's life! Fourth year I cheated on all my tasks because I wanted to win, I watched Cedric die, I watched Voldemort being born again!' he began desperately.

'All this year, the Order of the Phoenix has been trying to find a way to protect you and your family. I wasn't even the one who told them about you, that was Dumbledore, I was just trying to find a way to protect you!' he said.

'This summer, I read all about you in the Daily Prophet and I knew you were special! I used to have a crush on Cho Chang, but I haven't given her a second thought this year! Ever since I met you, you've been all I've thought about. Halloween, the emotions thing, the Yule Ball we've done everything together. Just you and me' he pleaded desperately, staring her in the eye.

Catalina merely stared at Harry, who couldn't see her face from the shadows cast by the moon. Harry heard his own heart thumping uncomfortably against his rib cage, and he reached over and held out his hand.

'Me and you belong together' he said, putting his hand next to hers, their red lighting bolt scars glowing in the pale light, 'I love you Catalina'

Catalina gave a gasp and stepped backwards, and Harry dropped his arms to his side, waiting for her reaction. Catalina however, didn't say a word and Harry watched as she pushed passed him and ran down the stairs to the astronomy tower. Feeling as if the world had caved in on him, Harry Potter sank to the floor and didn't move until the first bleak rays of light emerged over the mountains.

*

AN/ I bet a lot of you will be shouting at me very loudly now, with possible finger waving and wild gesticulations for not wiring more, and I'm sorry for the small chapter! But I have exams and coursework galore at the moments and as much as it pains me to say this - HP has to come second sobs But never fear! More will be along shortly!

Thanks to all my reviewers…61 posts, I feel so loved sobs again

And to SOMEONE…yes Catalina is a bit of a git at the moment isn't she, but no one's perfect and there's a lot more to her than meets the eye.

WARNING: Things get a bit mystic and sad form now on


	29. The Prophecy

****

~*~*~ Chapter Thirty ~*~*~

The Prophecy

Harry, Ron and Hermione were excused from lessons in the upcoming week. The teachers all knew the reason, and a substitute was brought in for Professor Figg, who was personally training the three. She would also be joining the Order in the attack, and Harry had never met anyone who knew so many unknown and ancient curses, hexes and spells. They worked all day long in empty classrooms, trying to learn the new spells, enforcing their protection shields and occasionally being taught by other members of the staff.

Even Dumbledore helped them, turning up four days before the battle, to teach them the best use of transfiguration during a duel. Harry had nearly been knocked out when a small pebble Dumbledore threw at him, was suddenly transfigured into a boulder. However, Dumbledore's presence boosted Harry's confidence and the comforting thought that no matter what happened 75 other Order members would be in the house to help him.

Dumbledore had just finished helping the three practice a new transfiguration technique, when he requested a private meeting with Harry.

Harry followed Dumbledore silently up to his office, worried about what he would need to speak to him about privately. Harry had settled into one of Dumbledore's comfy couches, and Dumbledore settled himself into a chair opposite. Not for the first time, Harry thought how tired Dumbledore looked and he found himself wondering exactly how old he was.

'I just want to talk to you about Catalina, Harry' said Dumbledore settling into his own seat.

'What about her?' Harry muttered, feeling his cheeks flush – he did not want to have to explain their argument to Dumbledore.

'She has been to see me recently, with a request' said Dumbledore cryptically.

Harry looked into Dumbledore's ancient face in confusion, and stayed silent, waiting for him to say what he wanted to say.

'She has asked me to sever the connection between you two,' Dumbledore continued, gazing at Harry's downcast eyes, 'She seemed very adamant to find a way'

'Oh' was all Harry could say to that, feeling the bottom drop out of his stomach.

'Now, I have discovered a way to perform this. It will take a very complex and powerful piece of magic. I would have to perform it myself, there are few with the knowledge' said Dumbledore heavily.

Again Harry didn't say anything, but continued to pick and the fraying edge of his robe. She did it; she finally did it he thought. She finally found a way to sever the connection.

'Harry,' said Dumbledore softly leaning closer to him 'I'd need your permission to do this, but if I don't do it, I'm afraid she would either attempt it herself or find someone else who does not have my scruples. She's desperate. What happened Harry?'

'I guess the novelty must have just worn off' said Harry in a strangled voice.

Dumbledore studied Harry closely for some time, making Harry shift uncomfortably in his seat. Harry knew Dumbledore didn't believe him, and he agonised over a way to explain it away.

'Lost its novelty hmmm…Well Harry, I don't mind telling you I am extremely worried. Catalina has been and will always be very different to us; she is capable of power we can not imagine. I have followed your friendship with her closely, daring not to believe what has and will happen will come true' said Dumbledore, with a seriousness in his eyes that Harry had never seen before.

'What are you talking about Professor?' asked Harry trying to understand what Dumbledore was getting at.

'Harry, You have always wondered why Voldemort is after you, why he tried to kill you for the first time on Halloween all those years ago. I have always maintained that I would tell you when you are ready, but times are different now and this is important. Over a century ago, a seer by the name of Amaris Milne made a prophecy about a boy, and the downfall of a Dark Lord. This prophecy is not well known at all, and I have the only copy of it in my possession. I've spent my entire lifetime dedicating myself to the study of the prophecy' said Dumbledore reaching into his desk, and pulling out a worn, leather bound book.

Harry looked down at the book, and then back to Dumbledore. He didn't know what to say. Harry firmly believed that divination just didn't work – three years in the presence of Professor Trelawney had taught him that. And now Dumbledore was going to tell him that his life had been written down in this book? He didn't believe it, but he let Dumbledore continue.

'This book details the life of that boy, his parents, his birth, and his life until the end. When I met your parents for the first time Harry, I knew. I didn't interfere with their lives, but when your mother became pregnant, they were shown the book...I have always told you that your parents knew Voldemort was after them, and it was because of this book they did' said Dumbledore, flicking through the parchment pages before pushing it towards Harry.

'Harry, I've followed your life, and now I am certain – you are that boy' he said solemnly.

'I don't believe you' said Harry bluntly, his impassive face hiding the storm of emotion brewing inside him.

'I didn't expect you would Harry, yours parents didn't really believe me either I don't think. They called it lucky guesswork, and the ramblings of a crazy woman' said Dumbledore laughing to himself.

'What's this got to do with Catalina?' asked Harry after nearly a minute of silence.

'She is mentioned in the book Harry. Not by name but by events in your life. It was written that:

__

A stranger at first in their midst,

With gifts two for the One,

Though at first will be cherished, Beware,

Not all is what it seems.

Betrayal will break the two,

And bitter thoughts will seek an end,

In the arms of the enemy,

Not all is what it seems.

Harry sat in shocked silence, looking at the writing on the crackling pages of the book, as Dumbledore recited them from memory, eyes closed. 

'I don't believe this' muttered Harry, 'That could be about anybody and anything and you know it!' 

'This is true Harry, but follow this through with me. _A stranger at first in their midst, _Catalina as new to this school, and even this country when you met her for the first time. _With gifts two for the One, _Two gifts she was said to give to you, the first being the emotional connection you two have, the second being your newly acquired powers as a Magus. _Though at first will be cherished, Beware, Not all is what it seems. Betrayal will break the two, _something has happened between you two. I see it, everyone sees it, something has happened that broken you two apart, hence her asking me to get rid of your connection. _And bitter thoughts will seek an end, In the arms of the enemy, _This Harry, is the most important line. There are only two people who would have the power to break the connection that you have with her...Voldemort, and Myself' said Dumbledore grimly.

'Oh this is just too good!' said Harry climbing to his feet and pacing the room, 'So because we had an argument she would go to Voldemort and get him to do it? I don't think so! Like he'd do it anyway!'

'He would do it Harry, as part of a trade' said Dumbledore.

'Trade? What could she possibly have that Volde –' started Harry trailing off at the look on Dumbledore's face.

'…Me' whispered Harry.

Dumbledore merely nodded, and sat back in his chair. Harry was still stood in the middle of his office, riveted to the spot, mouth open as he thought of what he had just said. 

'No, I don't believe it. Like I'm really going to believe what some crazy old witch said 100 years ago about two people having a fight? It's ridiculous, it's stupid...I can't believe that you would even consider…' said Harry, struggling to find his words.

'Harry, I knew this would not be easy for you, but even if you do not believe me, take heed of this warning. Be careful around her, she could-' started Dumbledore before Harry found his voice again.

'No! This is just too stupid! She might be angry with me sir, but she would never betray me' said Harry, excusing himself and running out of the room before Dumbledore could protest.

*

Ron and Hermione were sitting in the common room, looking through large textbooks in the search for more curses for protection when Harry arrived back from his meeting with Dumbledore.

Instead of coming and siting over by them, he had gone up to his dormitory, followed by worried looks from Ron and Hermione.

'What do you thinks wrong?' asked Hermione fearfully.

'I don't know, I'd better go and find out' said Ron, hurrying up the stairs after his friend.

As Ron climbed the shadowy stone staircase to the dormitory, he could hear sounds of crashing upstairs. He hurried up and burst through the doors, to see what was happening. He ducked just in time to see the metal bin, sail through the air and smash into the wall just above his head.

'What the hell?' shouted Ron, as he saw Harry standing in the centre of the room, looking angry.

Harry didn't say anything but started pacing the room, muttering to himself. Ron suddenly noticed peculiar things were happening in the room, the air itself felt full of static and things were vibrating slightly, as if the earth was shaking. But he didn't concentrate on that too much as the way Harry was kicking anything that came into reach was bothering him more. Ron was actually starting to get very worried. Magus's shouldn't loose their temper like Harry was doing, especially Harry. Something could happen. As if in answer to his thoughts, a nearby glass shattered and Harry stopped his silent rant and looked over to where Ron was standing.

'Harry what the hells wrong with you?' asked Ron, picking up the mangled bin, and putting back on the floor properly.

'You won't believe it!' said Harry exasperatedly, 'You won't believe what that stupid old fool thinks is going to happen…' 

'Who?' asked Ron, confused by his friend's behaviour

'Dumbledore! You wont believe it!' shouted Harry back.

Something must be really wrong if Harry is calling Dumbledore a stupid old fool, thought Ron as he walked over to his friend. Just then he heard footsteps pounding up the stairs, and Hermione appeared in the doorway.

'What's going on in here? I can here you from downstairs!' she said, surveying the wreckage of the once reasonably tidy boys dormitory.

'Harry was just about to tell me' said Ron pointedly, looking over to Harry.

'You guys will not believe this…' said Harry launching into the story of his meeting with Dumbledore. His rushed account was punctuated by wild gesticulations and various items across the room tinkling to the floor, as he angrily told them what had happened.

'…and he thinks she's in with you-know-who?' said Ron, mouth open with shock.

Harry merely nodded, looking between Ron and Hermione's faces, which were both showing shock and disbelief.

'Harry' Hermione said hesitantly, not looking at him, 'You don't think that…she wouldn't…would she?'

'What! I can't believe you Hermione! Your not serious are you?' said Harry angrily, as he began to pace the room again.

'Of course not' said Hermione hastily.

'Harry…You know we don't really know that much about her…you don't know her' said Ron awkwardly a few moments later.

'Ron! We've known her for a year, do you really think she'd sell me out to Voldemort?' cried Harry.

'Harry, listen. The way she reacted to finding out about the Order, and the way she's stayed so angry at us, is nothing like what I would have imagined her like. It just shows how different she is' said Ron, earning nods of affirmation from Hermione.

'Will you stop saying that! She's not different from us! I'd trust her with my life, even now, there's no way she'd sell me out' said Harry vehemently

'Your dad trusted Pettigrew with his life as well Harry' said Ron defiantly.

Harry stopped in his tracks, and turned to regard Ron. It was true and they all knew it. His dad trusted Pettigrew, Sirius did, Lupin did, Dumbledore did, and he betrayed them all. Ron knew he'd struck a chord with Harry, and Hermione watched as he silently sat on the bed opposite them.

'I'm sorry to say it Harry, but face it, it's like history's repeating itself' said Ron apologetically.

'So your saying you believe this prophecy thing then?' asked Harry after a long silence.

'It's not like Dumbledore to believe in something so much, for it not to be true' began Hermione, 'but divination is a very imprecise branch of magic you know…'

Harry gave a hollow laugh, and looked across at the photo of the Yule Ball, at him and Catalina hugging and laughing. He saw in his mind eye his parents wedding photo, with Sirius, Remus and Peter all laughing together. Everyone had lost faith in Catalina, even Dumbledore, everyone had labelled her the betrayer before anything had even happened. He wouldn't loose faith in her though he decided, she had never given him a reason.

Ah, said a nasty voice in his head, did Peter give your dad a reason?

*

Ron and Hermione had left Harry alone to his thoughts after their discussion. They had already decided not to trust Catalina, and Harry had agreed with them. He'd felt awful saying it, but everyone was so strong in their beliefs that they wouldn't listen to him. Catalina was the traitor, and that was it. No one wanted to hear that she wasn't. Sirius was the happiest of everyone. He had finally been proved right, Catalina was dangerous.

Harry didn't catch one glimpse of Catalina in the following days, she'd hid in the Hospital Wing faking an illness that was baffling Madam Pomfrey. She had been informed of the plan, and a cold fear lay in Harry's stomach, and he didn't know who it belonged to. Ever since his confession, Catalina's anger had subsided slightly, and been replaced with confusion and fear. However, she seemed to be hiding it brilliantly and soon May the 18th drew near, the last day of her freedom.

Ron, Hermione and Harry had just watched Catalina leave for the Astronomy Tower again, and Harry knew that this could probably be the last time he ever saw her. He didn't follow her this time however, he just watched her walk out of the portrait hole.

He turned back to Ron and Hermione, and raised his wand again.

'Lets try again' he said calmly.

Curses, hexes and charms flew through the air, as the three of them duelled each other into the night. Harry managed to keep a clear head until he cast his shield charm over himself. There on the front, was the cat and broomstick, blazing in brilliant yellow light against the red of the rest of his shield. His permanent reminder of Halloween at Hogsmeade. 

'Lets go to bed' said Harry heavily, as he emerged from his shield.

Harry and Ron climbed wearily to bed, and tried to sleep. Harry's stomach churned unpleasantly, and he found it hard to fall asleep. The thought that when he woke up the following morning, Catalina would be under the shields protection, and their link would be severed haunted him until he finally sank into restless sleep.

*

He woke the next morning to a terrible feeling of emptiness, that told him Catalina was protected. The absence of her emotions, no matter how turbulent they had been the past few days, left him feeling sick and weak. He slowly got dressed and headed down to the common room, and was greeted by a pale faced Ron and Hermione.

'Has it worked?' asked Hermione cautiously.

'Yeah' said Harry stumbling across the room slightly.

'Good' said Hermione through pursed lips, trying to hide her feelings for Catalina.

Harry turned away from his friends, and walked to his seat on shaking legs, he was feeling worse than he imagined he would.

'This is stupid, how are you supposed to fight in that condition?' said Ron, noticing Harry's sickly look.

'I'll be fine' said Harry defiantly, 'Got to get used to it anyway'

'Were leaving at 6 p.m., so we've got the day to get ready. We've been excused from lessons' said Hermione, slightly frowning.

'Right let's get to work' said Harry, fighting against the wave of nausea threatening to overcome him, and smiled confidently.

They spent the afternoon, mastering the protection shields, new curses, and improving their duelling techniques. Hermione and Ron found it best to forget the reason they were practising so hard, as thoughts of the terrifying hooded Death Eaters came to them. Harry however, had no problem in forgetting their task. His thoughts were constantly on Catalina, in her prison. And the absence of her emotions was disconcerting, even if they were explained.

Harry excused himself quietly, and headed to his dormitory. He felt as if this was the last day of his life, and he truly believed that he would never see Hogwarts again. Every time he had faced Voldemort, someone or something had saved him. His mother had died to save him, and her protection lasted in his first year and destroyed Quirrell, in his second year Fawkes had saved him, and last year, his wand had backfired and his parents saved him again. Even Catalina had saved him in the Halloween attack earlier this year Harry thought as he looked at the Yule Ball photo again. Would he be so lucky this time?

He pulled a quill and parchment towards him and set to work. He sat there for an hour feverishly writing stopping periodically to look up to the ceiling for inspiration. At last he sat back and wrote four names on each envelope, Ron, Hermione, Sirius and Catalina. The four most important people in his life. He sat back and stared at the envelopes before he laid them out on his pillows of his bed. He pulled the curtain around his bed, tidied his things up, and pulled on his Order robes. With one last look around the room, he picked up his red velvet bag and walked out the door. He met with Ron and Hermione who both smiled nervously. Fear and worry overtook all other emotions as he met up with them.

'You guys…' started Harry, trying to find words for his two best friends, something inspiring and memorable that would comfort them all. Nothing came and Harry shrugged, "Just take care ok?"

'Lets go' said Ron in a strained voice.

As six 'o' clock approached Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way down to the entrance hall. They were greeted by a large number of scarlet robed figures all clutching their red velvet bag of capturing balls, and they pushed to the front in search of Dumbledore. 

'Professor, can I see Catalina before we leave?' Harry asked Dumbledore urgently when he found him.

'Of course, she is in my office, tell the guards I gave you permission' said Dumbledore, frowning slightly, before turning to survey the gathering crowd.

Harry quickly made his way to Dumbledore's office. When he reached the gargoyle a phoenix member was guarding it. He hurriedly explained, before making his way up the stairs. Another member stood at the top of the stairs, he opened the door and Harry went to walk into the room, but walked straight into a solid wall. He stumbled backwards, slightly dazed. He felt like he'd walked into a brick wall - a brick wall that gave you electric shocks.

The protective shield encompassed the whole of the office, and Harry couldn't put a toe over the threshold. He looked into the room and saw Catalina pacing in the centre of the room, surrounded by scarlet robed wizards. Her hair was in disarray and her robes swirled wildly as she paced the room. On seeing Harry at the threshold, she rushed over to the wall, and Harry noticed every step she took, was followed by the eyes of the wizards in the room.

'You!' she hissed, 'You've got to get me out of here!' she said to him desperately.

'Why what's wrong?' asked Harry, forgetting all about their argument in the face of her distress.

'Its not right me being in here. I...I don't like it!' she said looking around at the wizards.

'It's for your own protection Catalina. As soon as this battles over, you'll be let out, safe and sound, I promise' said Harry watching Catalina anxiously.

'I'm not an animal! I don't belong in a cage!' she spat, kicking a wooden chair across the room by way of emphasising her point.

'Catalina' Harry pleaded, shocked by her outburst, 'we're just trying to keep you safe. It'll all be over soon' 

'Let me out!' she said more harshly, thumping the invisible wall, as if she meant to hit him instead.

Harry took and step backwards, surprised by Catalina's behaviour. She seemed to have forgotten all about the argument, but was acting really strange. At least she doesn't look as ill as he felt he thought, as he tried to memorise her face for the last time.

'I've got to go' he said, walking away from the shield. Whatever he would have liked to say was lost, and he turned his back and ran down the stairs.

'Where'd you go?' asked Hermione when Harry met her in the entrance hall.

'To see Catalina' said Harry avoiding her gaze as he searched the crowd for Sirius and Lupin.

'Oh, and how is she?' asked Ron politely, although he was dying to say something, Harry could tell.

Harry shook his head worriedly, and quickly informed the other two of Catalina's behaviour. Before they had time to speculate a reason, Dumbledore's voice echoed around the stone corridor.

'Follow me people, it's time'

The silent group of scarlet clad figures moved out into the grounds of Hogwarts, and assembled outside the school boundaries. Witches and wizards started to apparate, and left Ron, Hermione, Harry and Sirius behind. Sirius held up an empty bottle of butterbeer, which he had found at the side of the road, and all three of them touched it with the tips of their index fingers.

'Good luck Harry, and both of you' said Sirius staring down and the three with nothing but fear and concern in his eyes.

Harry merely nodded, as did Ron and Hermione, all feeling that if they opened their mouths they'd all be sick.

At exactly 6 p.m. Harry felt the now familiar tug behind his navel, as the Portkey carried them to Voldemorts lair.

*

AN/ dum de dum dum

I have developed a sudden inability to post due to chronic non-review syndrome…

As I said, all getting a bit mystic and now they're off walking in the shadow of the valley of death! The next part will be up on Monday night (for those in GMT, plus or minus however many hours for all you's people around the world)

So here it is, the showdown, the big one, the one you've all been waiting for, the beginning of the end of the story :S it's been a long hard slog but WE'RE GETTING THERE


	30. The Return to Riddle Manor

****

~*~*~ Chapter Thirty One ~*~*~

The Return to Riddle Manor

Harry felt his feet slam into the cold wet ground and he was thrown to the floor. He looked up and he pushed himself to his feet and felt sick at what he saw – the graveyard.

He was back here again.

He could almost hear the sound of Cedric's body hitting the floor and the sound of the curses hitting the gravestones around him, which still bore the scars from the battle last year. It felt as if he'd only just left this place, and now he was walking voluntarily into it.

Order members were appearing with small pops across the graveyard and soon they were all gathered, a silent mass of blood red robes. Harry looked to his right and saw Ron and Hermione watching the unfolding scene with pale faces and wide eyes. In this part of the country it was raining heavily, and the raindrops had turned the graveyard into a boggy mess before 100 pairs of feet traipsed across it. 

Thunder rolled above and everyone looked up in time to see a fork of lightning flash across the sky, illuminating a run down manor house on the hill high above.

"Does it in style doesn't it?" muttered Ron and Harry merely nodded his head in agreement, the weather was certainly creating an effect.

The icy rain slipped down his back and made his teeth chatter as the mass of robed witches and wizards moved forward as a single entity. Hurried hand movements and whistles were being swapped between groups, which soon began to break away and lead off in other directions. Harry soon realised they were surrounding the manor, and his group was led towards the rear of the house.

They passed a small rundown cottage on the way, which also looked empty, but looks could be deceiving. Harry knew the manor house would soon be, or already was, teeming with Death Eaters about to make their first large-scale attack since Hogsmeade. They approached a small unguarded door, with newly broken vines of ivy littering the floor around it.

Mundungus Fletcher was leading the group, and he silently pushed the door open. The all moved into the dark, musty smelling room which turned out to be a kitchen ad were about to move into the next room when they heard a hiss coming from the corner.

"What do you think your doing?" came a voice from the corner.

Nobody answered and Harry looked around in confusion, the wizard in front had his wand trained on something hidden in the gloom.

"What is it?" asked one person.

"Voldemorts snake" came the whispered reply.

And Harry suddenly understood why no-one was replying to the voice, they couldn't even hear it, so he moved forward silently. He stood next to the wizard and gave him a small nod before he looked down into the corner, and just as he said lay Nagini - Voldemorts pet snake.

"Harry Potter" it hissed in recognition, My masster will be pleassed you are here already"

"I don't doubt that," Harry replied, "Care to give me directions?"

"I would never help you…you sshall find out ssoon enough where he iss"

Harry nodded silently, then quick as lightning bent down and slammed a hand on the top of the foul creatures head, pressing it's face down onto the floor. It hissed loudly even to Harry's ears and bared its fangs uselessly at the ground.

"Tell me where he and his followers are" Harry asked politely.

"I will not help you, enemy" hissed Nagini contemptuously.

"Tell me" growled Harry pressing down harder.

"No"

Harry looked up to wizards, who'd seen enough strange things in their lifetime not to think of what was happening as out of the ordinary. 

"She won't tell me anything" said Harry.

The man with his wand already trained on Nagini nodded, "Tell her, I will kill her now unless she does"

"This man is going to kill you now unless you tell me where they are" Harry told the snake.

"Then kill me, it will not help your causse"

Harry sighed in frustration the looked up at the wizard and shook his head. The man's mouth was set in a grim line when he performed the curse, which made Hermione look away in disgust and Harry wish he'd moved his hand away quicker. He stood up, adding more scarlet colour to his robes as he wiped his hands.

Harry suddenly realised what the snake had said, 'My master will be pleased you are here already'. They were expecting them. Harry turned to address the full yet silent kitchen.

"They know we're coming" he whispered.

A ripple of uncomfortable fear ran through the kitchen, and Harry himself felt a cold shudder run through him. The only reason they would know they were coming was if someone had told them, and the only people that knew were those in the Order. Somebody had turned spy, someone was swapping information…

The mass began to move again and Sirius stood protectively in front of Harry with his wand outstretched and a portkey already in hand, Harry followed the Order through into the corridor.

There they met up with various teams from the Order, and with silent signals they headed towards the double doors on their right. They had planned to take the room by surprise and too flood into the room before the gathered Death Eaters could react – they had not planned on being ambushed themselves.

The first Harry realised of the enemy's plan was when a familiar cold sensation washed over him, and a mounting scream was building up inside his head.

"Dementors" Hermione hissed, although the icy cold dread was all the explanation they needed.

Harry screwed his eyes up and summoned the happiest thought he could think of, the Yule Ball and dancing with Catalina, trying to block out the sounds of his mothers screams before summoning his patronus. He opened his eyes to see the white shadow filled stag charge forwards into the wall of 5 dementors that were gliding noiselessly towards them. They flinched away as an assortment of patronus figures, all glowing brighter than Harry's own, met them. On his right side Hermione was desperately trying to conjure a patronus, but looked too ridged with fear to succeed.

"Expec…Expecto…Exp…Patronus" she was whispering to herself.

On his right, Ron was having better luck, but the white hovering mist in front of him would not move or take form. Harry 's own patronus was dimming fast and faded amongst the more brilliant white light of the Order's which had driven back the dementors and were now prowling around the room. Bulls, lions, eagles and even human figures were all fading into the gloom of the manor, leaving the enfolding blackness looking darker and more gloomy than before.

"The Dark lord knows we are here, what hope we had in secrecy is now lost" Dumbledore told the gathered members, from his position at the foot of the stairs, "Split up and capture as many as possible"

Harry gulped but the three of them followed Sirius, who had already moved towards Lupin. He saw a flashes of Weasley red hair disappear in different directions, and the whole house seemed to hold its breath, their cover was blown and now it was only a matter of moments before the first Death Eaters would be approaching. Harry felt his scar beginning to burn, and knew for certain then that Voldemort would not be long.

It was then that the first explosion occurred.

They had been creeping silently up the stairs when every single noise in the room stopped. It felt as if Harry had gone deaf and he turned around in the silent world. His eye immediately caught a white ball of light arcing from the top landing above the stairs towards the hall beneath that still had Order members travelling across. Harry opened his mouth in a silent scream of warning, and the same deafness was effecting everyone.

The Order members below looked up in time to see the ball of light fly towards them. On impact with the ground the noise rushed back into the world and the air was full of screams, shouts of warning and the shrieking noise of falling masonry. It had been some kind of bomb, and everyone watched open mouthed as the ball of fire left by the bomb consumed the place where three Order members had been standing seconds before.

"What was that?" asked Ron in a choked voice.

"Sonic blast bomb" said Hermione in an unusually high pitched voice.

Harry didn't have time to ask how she knew, or what that exactly meant because the world went silent for a second time. They all immediately looked up and saw another ball of white light arcing towards the top of the stairs they were walking up.

With a silent scream and in one shift movement they all ran to the edge of the railing of the stairs and vaulted over the side, falling over the side at the same moment the blast of the return of the noise hit them, throwing them further across the room.

Amid the screeches of destruction the five of them hit the floor, screaming and howling in pain themselves. They had fallen from a high place and hadn't had time to prepare for landing. It took them a few moments to gather their wits enough to get up, and the fall had left them all dizzy as pieces of burning wood raining down on them.

"We need to move away from here, we're too exposed" Sirius ordered them, pushing the three of them towards the doorway to their left.

They collectively limped and staggered out of the hallway, just in time to hear the sound being sucked out of the room, followed by the accompanying blast a few moments later. They however didn't have time to worry about their colleagues suffering in the next room because they were in a long corridor, with Death Eaters rapidly approaching them.

Before Harry knew what was happening curses were flying and he was quickly dodging and throwing curses without a pause. Lupin and Sirius were working so fast a furiously that two Death Eaters fell before Harry could even see them through a curse. He knew there and then how they had been able to become aurors. 

"Stupefy!" shrieked Hermione to his right side and one Death Eater fell to the ground.

She wasted no time in throwing one of the small portkeys at him, and he disappeared from sight in a flash before they turned to the surviving two.

Harry was carefully watching the one closest to him, who had immediately recognised him and was sending an unknown curse at him repeatedly.

"Plagae!" he screeched.

Harry felt a sharp of pain shoot up his left arm that the curse had hit, and looked own to see a large cut had opened up. It had felt like a knife slashing his flesh and he gritted his teeth against the pain.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

His body fell to the ground with a satisfying thump, disappearing a few seconds later.

The last Death Eater fell to ground due to a curse Harry had never heard of before being sent his way by Lupin. Harry pressed on his cut as blood was seeping into the robes of his arms making it heavy, before wrapping a piece of cloth from the hemline of his robe around it. He looked across to see Ron doing the same to his leg and Lupin pushing sweaty hair from his eyes.

Without a word they set off down the corridor, and it soon became apparent to Harry that there was something wrong with the dimensions of the house. Although it was a huge mansion the corridor they had just ran down must have been at least twice as long as it.

"They've got some kind of charm on this house, these corridors can't be this long!" Harry heard Lupin telling Sirius as they stalked down the corridors cautiously.

"Your right," muttered Sirius, "This place had been made into a labyrinth"

"How can we all combine together for one huge attack if we are spread out across this place?" asked Ron, white-faced.

"I don't know," said Lupin thoughtfully, "But I think that was Voldemorts plan"

They cautiously carried on down the corridor, stopping the hold their balance a few times as great explosions rocked the whole house. Harry checked for the hundredth time his bag tied to his belt. It was still there swinging wildly with all five portkeys still inside. He wasn't feeling too good, the fall from the top of the stairs had left him feeling slightly light-headed, and that combined with the pains coming from his scar and the weakness severing the connection with Catalina had left him in a bad way.

All around him there was a heavy silence pressing down, not for their sonic bombs, but the normal sounds of a dilapidated house that was empty. But Harry knew for a fact that the house was full of at least 75 Order members, and countless Death Eaters and even Dementors. It was only the occasional shocks coming up through the floorboards that told them they weren't alone.

Just as they were coming up to a junction of the corridor, he felt a tingling sensation at his fingertips, and there was the taste of metal in the air. He looked around in confusion and saw the others acting normally, until Lupin, then Sirius, shortly followed by Ron and Hermione suddenly looked around as well.

"Do you feel that?" Sirius asked quickly.

"Yes, it feels like some sort of-" said Lupin before he was quickly cut off.

Harry felt the air practically buzz with static and Lupin who had been walking slightly in front of them, suddenly disappeared with a pop. Sirius gave a hoarse yell and threw out his arms to stop the other three all walking the same way. They all looked at the space where Lupin had been stood moments before, but now was no-where to be seen.

"He disappeared" said Hermione in a shocked voice.

*

AN/ hehehe, sorry for the cliffie, I know you guys hate them!

So point to a house of your choice if you can tell me where I shamelessly plagiarised the sonic blast bombs from, and for all you who think the portkeys sound like those pokéball things of the cartoon, your probably right…

What do you think? Poor Remy! You know what's gonna make me write more…that little button juts below us here…

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	31. The Apparation Fields

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~*~*~ Chapter Thirty Two ~*~*~

The Apparation Fields

They all turned to Sirius desperately, whose mouth was set in a grim line. He didn't say anything, merely walked to the wall and yanked a painting off. They watched in silence as he walked back over to the area Lupin had disappeared from, and threw the painting into the air.

It flew along, crazily spinning until it reached the area and suddenly disappeared with a pop. Again he didn't say anything.

"Its some kind of apparation point?" Hermione asked, although it sounded like she already knew.

Sirius nodded, and turned around the walk down the corridor, Ron and Harry however, gave indignant yells that made him turn around.

"You're not leaving him in there?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Ron, Moony could look after himself, and we have no idea where you might end up if you walk though there. It could be positioned a thousand feet up in the air for all you know" said Sirius firmly.

They watched open-mouthed as he continued back the way they came, not wanting to think about where Lupin was or whether he even still alive. Harry felt a shudder pass through him as he thought about this manor house – it was full of surprises, unpleasant surprises. He felt as if every step he took brought him closer to danger and that any moment an apparation point would take him. There were bombs and curses he'd never heard of, Dark Creatures roaming the endless corridors.

Again he had to fight back the overwhelming thought that this had all been planned, how had Voldemort known they were going to be there? Tonight? How had he be able to set up all these traps and precautions? He must have known for ages…Harry had only known for a few weeks, the spy must be in the Order he concluded and they made their way through another disconcertingly empty corridor, placed high up where no one would suspect them.

Harry hated the way his mind started jumping to conclusions, making a list of suspects and measuring their trustworthiness. He stopped disgustedly and concentrated on the task in hand. They were crossing a huge carpeted area of a room, with the smell of dust and mildew coating his throat and making it hard to breathe.

And suddenly he felt the static feeling in the air again and the metallic taste of the air.

"Stop!" he shouted, as everyone quickly stopped their slow process and looked at him.

"There's another one of those apparation fields around him somewhere" he said.

"How do you know?" asked Ron curiously, looking around him.

"I can feel it in the air, that static feeling like back in the corridor" he explained, bending down to pick up a rotten piece of wood off the floor.

He threw it into the air and once it was about 5m away it disappeared with a pop.

"You can obviously feel them before us Harry" said Sirius grimly looking at their barred path, "I can't even feel a whisper yet"

"Where now?" asked Hermione in a slightly shaking voice.

"Back the way we came" said Sirius in a low voice. 

They turned around and walked back across the room and Harry felt the air returning to normal. They were about to reach the doorway when he felt the feeling suddenly jump up again and he yelled for them to be still.

"It's moved" he whispered, as the buzzing was so loud that not only could the other three feel it, they could almost see it.

The entire doorway was filled with what looked like just normal air, but when you looked at it in a certain light, there seemed to be tiny worms of black light wriggling in it, nearly lost in the gloom of the manor. They all backed away slowly, until they could no longer see the light. It seemed it could only be viewed from close up – only a few centimetres from your nose.

"How is it doing that?" asked Hermione in frustration, "We only just walked through that door, it moved within a few seconds!"

"They're not permanent then," said Sirius gravely looking around him, "They must be able to attach themselves to a persons magical signature and track your movements, placing themselves at the right place at the right time"

"What?" asked Ron in confusion.

"They're following us" said Harry grimly.

They all looked about them worriedly, these were unforeseen complications, and they hadn't counted on being tracked through the manor. 

"Let's carry on the way we were going to go. Harry stay in front, you will be able to sense them before us. Shout as soon as you get the slightest inkling" said Sirius.

Harry nodded and moved to the front leading them through the doorway on the opposite side of the room. He felt exposed at the front, but tried to swallow his nerves and peered keenly into the gloom ahead. He could hear Hermione talking to herself, obviously her way to get over her fear was to do some studying.

"What are you muttering about Hermione?" asked Ron angrily a few moments later.

"These…fields. They're following us right? The first one was placed well ahead of our getting to that point, we walked right into it, even we sensed it before Lupin walked in. The second one popped up closer to us, Harry could feel it but we couldn't right? The last one appeared so suddenly it was right in front of our noses" she explained, almost to herself.

"Yeah so? I _was_ there, I did see it" whispered Ron.

"Well don't you think that's strange? How its changing its hunting patterns so quickly? At first it was just mist in the corridor and now it can form itself into the doorways, so there's no possibility of us missing it" she continued and Harry saw Sirius listening to her intently. 

"Yeah…" said Ron slowly, obviously completely lost at what Hermione was trying to get at.

"Don't you see? It's evolving! It's studying the way we move, matching itself to us, learning from it's mistakes…Its getting more efficient" she finished.

They all gulped in the darkness. If this new form of apparation could learn from every mistake it made, it wouldn't be long before it figured out how to capture them more quickly. It would soon figure out that if it placed itself about a centimetre in front of each of them, it would capture them before they had chance to stop. 

"Fascinating" whispered Hermione in awe,

"Fascinating?" asked Ron incredulously, "I hardly think fascinating describes what's happening right now"

"Shut up you two" said Sirius gruffly, "Hermione's right, it is evolving so we had better keep our guard up"

They both stopped talking immediately and peered about them keenly. You could have heard a pin drop as they glided along the corridor and Harry was aware of his own painfully thumping heart. He hadn't told the others but as they moved further through the manor his scar had begun to burn painfully, and he was sure Voldemort was somewhere close indeed. But space seemed to have no meaning in this place as occasionally the pain stopped, then started again. The dimensions were so distorted the house didn't know where it stood, and it seemed to be being ripped apart by the occasional blast.

The last one had been no exception. They had been walking quietly down yet another corridor, when a huge explosion had rocked the house and knocked them to their feet. The glass of the windows nearby shattered, and fell down in a rain of tinkling shards. Harry didn't know how much the house would be able to take, and all around them there was the creaking and groaning of the structure. 

They were about to climb to their feet when they all felt the now familiar rush of static air and metallic texture on the air. Ron who was lying on his back began to speak in a low, unsteady whisper.

"The field is right above us, about 10 cm from my head"

Hermione whimpered slightly and Sirius gave them steady instructions, "Ok guys, don't panic. Just shuffle along the floor until the area is no longer above our heads, easy does it"

They all gulped and began to do as he said. It was slow going as they could hardly move for fear of touching the field, and Harry prayed there wasn't another explosion or he would be thrown right into the field.

Eventually after a few minutes of hard work they managed to get out from under the field and scramble away.

"It's bloody evolving alright!" said Ron angrily, "Anymore of that and it'll be placing itself on the floor boards under our feet!"

"Enough!" barked Sirius, "Follow me, and keep on your guard. We need to regroup."

Harry cast one last look at the field before following the group down yet another corridor. It was quiet, too quiet and Harry felt increasingly uncomfortable at the silence. They were walking down one such anonymous corridor when Sirius suddenly stopped and looked around quickly.

"I thought I could hear something" he hissed, before transforming into a dog quickly.

He lowered his massive muzzle to the floor and gave a sniff, and a loud echoing bark followed by a growl. Ron shared a puzzled look with Harry before Sirius effortlessly transformed back.

"Wormtail's here," he told them quietly, with a furious anger blazing in his eyes, "I can _smell _him."

Harry became instantly aware of his surroundings and they had stopped moving. There was a sudden flurry of robes in the gloom to the right side of the group, and a pair of hands was thrown out and seized Hermione roughly. 

She gave a yelp and was pulled towards the masked Death Eater that had stepped out. He held his hand over her mouth and pulled her close to him, as if she were a hostage, and suddenly three other Death Eaters appeared in the darkness and stepped out surrounding them.

Before any of them could move, the masked wizard's wands were trained on them and they were surrounded. Sirius also had his wand trained on the closest Death Eater while Hermione was struggling violently. The wizard was having trouble keeping a hold of her, and pulled out his other hand and fixed it around her neck. Harry gave a gasp when he saw that the figure was wearing what looked like a silver glove. He had a flashback of that hand floating in the air like some horrific art sculpture before floating down to the stub where the owners right hand had just been. 

"You!" Harry hissed angrily.

Hermione's feet were dangling above the floor and she was gasping for breath painfully. In one swift movement both Harry and Ron dove forwards, wands forgotten, at the figure.

It was then that all hell broke loose.

Hermione was dropped to the floor and where she crumpled into a heap desperately gasping for breath on all fours. Curses began to fly through the air, and punches were thrown, especially by Sirius who had launched himself at Wormtail who lay prone on the floor. They were standing so close together that it was hard to tell friend from foe, and on several occasions curses sent by Sirius, Ron and the newly escaped Hermione caught Harry or grazed centimetres from his head.

Harry was duelling the nearest Death Eater, who was throwing another new curse his way so fast he was having trouble dodging them.

"Arundo!" the masked figure yelled again.

The curse formed a short shaft of black light, with flew through the air like an arrow and hit him on the right shoulder painfully. He gave a gasp and pulled out one of the portkeys from his back. He pressed the button and began to countdown, throwing several disarming hexes his way, before he threw the ball.

It thankfully hit the Death Eater square in the chest and in an instant he was transported away. He turned breathing heavily to see Sirius pinning Wormtail down on the floor, his robes bunched up in Sirius's hands who was glaring at him with such anger that Harry felt himself quail.

In a flash Wormtail had disappeared and Harry looked around quickly in time to see a small rat running up the corridor. Sirius transformed in a flash and bounded along the corridor, trying to pounce onto the rat as it scampered away. He disappeared round the corridor and Harry didn't have time to pay attention because three more Death Eaters had rounded the corridor. They started towards them and the last remaining Death Eater that had accompanied Wormtail threw a curse at Hermione. She dropped to the floor like a dead weight and he scooped her into his arms and began to run in the opposite direction. 

Harry and Ron made a desperate dash forwards and chased the Death Eaters carrying the wildly bouncing Hermione. He was soon lagging behind as the pains in his shoulder from the previous curse and the scar pains began to increase and he saw The Death Eater with Hermione and then Ron disappear around a corner. 

It happened before Harry knew what was happening. He felt it before he ran around the corner, the tinkling feel of the apparation field. He desperately skidded to a halt and the buzz reached a crescendo in his ears. He lost his balance and lurched forward, realising too late he couldn't escape it. There was a familiar tug behind his navel and his feet were picked off the ground. 

After the longest few seconds of his life, where he felt his whole body literally flying through the air, his feet were slammed down onto the ground so violently that he toppled over. He threw out his hands to break his fall and banged his knees on the wooden floorboards of wherever he was.

At least he wasn't 1000 feet up in the air and rapidly descending, but his head was screaming and the stabbing pain from his scar was making his vision blurred. He forced himself to pause and collect his breath before looking shakily around wherever he was. The first thing his eye was drawn to was the high stone walls, he followed them up and saw no windows and a high wooden beamed roof at the top. Candles on brackets along the wall supplied the light in the room and he lowered his gaze and let it sweep across the room. It was then that he felt someone watching him.

He picked himself up and turned around quickly, wand drawn. He quickly found the person, standing in the gloom, wearing Hogwarts robes. Her black hair was falling across her face casting unpleasant shadows. But it was the eyes that scared him the most, with the feline pupils glittering evilly in the dark.

"Hello Harry" she said softly.

*

AN/ AHHHHHH don't you just hate cliffies? Well sorry all, but this is a well placed break in the story which gives me time to write my coursework that was due in last week. Don't worry the next two chapters are written and shall be up on Friday and Saturday night! (GMT time)

So thought on this chapter, I'd really be interested to see how everyone thinks this story going to swing!

P.S. sorry to make Hermione the damsel in the distress type, she does seem to get captured a few times in this one. This is not a blatant case of sex discrimination - or perhaps it is, but I don't think Wormtail would choose Ron over Hermione…although I couldn't possibly comment.


	32. The Traitor

****

~*~*~ Chapter Thirty Two ~*~*~

The Traitor

Harry was so stunned by her presence that his wand clattered to the ground and he stumbled backwards. A million and one thoughts were flying his head while his brain screamed at him – he'd found the traitor.

"Catalina?" he managed to choke out.

She gave him a vague smile and he forced himself to believe what his eyes were telling him was in front of him. It was impossible…it _wasn't _possible. Catalina was at Hogwarts, locked in Dumbledore's office with her emotions shielded. She couldn't be here, she couldn't be smiling at him in that way, she couldn't be the spy…

He had to press the palm of his hand to his forehead as he tried to straighten out his thoughts, she was merely standing in front of him, arm behind her back grinning in a vague sort of way as he struggled to say anything or do anything.

"Catalina…?" was all he could ask again.

"Why do you find it so surprising that I could be here Harry?" she asked softly.

Harry stumbled backwards away from her in panic, he didn't know who this was in front of him but it most definitely wasn't Catalina. She looked like her, sounded like her, dressed like her, but the silence of her emotions told him that this wasn't her. It was a cruel attempt at trying to get at him, it had to be.

"You're not Catalina" he whispered hoarsely.

He refused to believe that the person in front of him was the person he was in love with, it just wasn't possible. Aside from the crazy whirl of emotions inside of him clouding his thoughts, the pain in his forehead was becoming unbearable, and he sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth.

"How do you know?" she asked simply.

Harry glared at the impostor and bent down to pick up his fallen wand. A heavy boot came out of nowhere and stood on his fingers as they curled around the thin piece of wood and he gave a yelp of pain.

"I don't think so Harry" she cautioned him, raising her foot to kick him square in the chest.

With a grunt of pain he was thrown backwards, cracking his already painful head on the wooden floorboards beneath him. He took a few moments to catch his breath before rolling across the floorboards as a jet of red light hit the place he'd just been lying. He scrambled to his feet, and faced Catalina warily.

He knew it wasn't her, but the Death Eater in her form was hard to look at. It made Harry feel sick and unable to comprehend harming the person in any way when she looked like that. Catalina was still standing in front of him, hands behind her back again as he breathed deeply.

Quick as a flash she brought a hand in front of her and another jet of red light flew from her fingertips before Harry had time to move. It caught him full in the chest and he was lifted of his feet and thrown across the room. He gave another yell of pain as he landed in a pile against the far wall with all the air knocked out of his lungs.

He struggled desperately to draw a breath in as he staggered to his feet, hands on knees and he panicked at the lack of air. Catalina was completely silent and watched him as he straightened up painfully, the pain in his head reaching a crescendo.

"Do you think a polyjuice impostor would acquire my powers?" she asked him quietly.

Harry felt like he had the wind knocked out of him for an entirely different reason this time, as the revelation hit him harder than any curse would. She was right, any person using polyjuice wouldn't acquire magus power, and even if they did they wouldn't know how to control them.

"It's not you…" Harry whispered desperately, "It can't be you"

She smiled at him again, as if he'd just been told the secret that everyone had wanted to know, and he felt so hurt and lonely that he forgot for a moment of situation. But she reminded him of it moments later when she threw another curse at him. His Quidditch reflexes allowed him to dive off to the side and it hit the wall and caused a shower of masonry to rain to the floor.

"Please Catalina, what are you doing?" he yelled as another curse was thrown at him.

She didn't answer him but only smiled that vacant smile of hers. Harry dodged to and fro and she turned slowly to follow him as he ran across the room. All the time she kept one hand behind her back but he noticed his wand lay forgotten on the floor.

He was just trying to formulate a plan to reach it when he saw the door behind her swing open, and the pain in Harry's head reached such a level that he had to bite his lip against crying out. There was a movement in the gloom before two figures walked in, the first was someone vaguely recognisable to Harry but the second's sight was enough to bring him to his knees in pain.

"Harry Potter," hissed the voice in a low, cold voice, "We meet again, and hopefully for the final time"

Harry staggered to his feet, and surveyed the room with mounting panic, the door was pulled too and Harry locked across at the second man who strode across to where Catalina was standing. He watched as the man stood behind her and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. He was tall, with short black hair and brown eyes and Harry suddenly realised where he'd seen that picture before, all those months ago in The Burrow, in an article in the Daily Prophet.

"Charles Firelight" Harry said slowly, as his aching brain tried to comprehend the information.

The man nodded towards him as Catalina had done, and his face remained impassive although his eyes betrayed his thoughts. They were blazing with anger and the fingers that were gripping Catalina's shoulder were white with the pressure.

"But your…you fought for our side" struggled Harry, "You're an auror! You defeated twelve Death Eaters! You got Order of Merlin, First Class!"

A shadow of anger passed across his features, "I have not always been proud of the things I have done in my life. But if I had to sacrifice 12 loyal servants for the continuation of my service you Lord Voldemort, then that is what I would do"

"You…you defeated 12 of your own collegues, because…because you were too gutless to show your true colours!" shouted Harry feeling scandelised.

"I have paid for my sins Harry Potter, and I have proved my judgement to be true in my later service," said Firelight with a haughtiness of over-confidence, "We now have Death Eaters across the world thanks to my work"

"But you were on a trip, a trip around the world?" asked Harry in disbelief, "And all the time you were gathering Death Eaters?"

"Doing my part for our noble cause"

Harry shook his head in disbelief and laughed out loud at how stupid they'd all been, they'd all been taken in by the famous auror, who captured so many Death Eaters and helped so many people…when all the time he was gathering the dark forces.

"I would expect for you to show me a little more respect" he said arrogantly.

With a flick of his wrist Harry was picked of the ground again, but the force of the power from the fully-trained magus knocked the breath out of him before he was thrown against the wall. The impact left his seeing stars for a long moment and he couldn't shake the clouds in his vision and he gasped painfully for breath. He had never felt that amount of magical power radiating off anyone before and he struggled to get back to his feet, falling off balance two times before he managed to pull himself up by the wall. 

"I trust we are all now acquainted" said Voldemort contemptuously, "Now down to business"

"But…she wouldn't work for you…she wouldn't" said Harry desperately.

"What more proof do you need Potter. She is here, she is wearing the robes of my faithful supporters, maybe you need another reminder." Said Voldemort, walking across the Catalina.

He pulled up the sleeve of her black robes as she stood unprotesting. Harry felt himself recoiling in horror at what he saw. There burned into her arm like a terrible tattoo, was the dark mark. He felt sick, and she watched him with an indistinct look in her eyes as Harry desperately moved away from them. It must be some kind of mistake…they must have forced it upon her, she'd never do that would she.

They began to laugh at Harry's reaction and Harry's eyes flicked down to his wand only a metre in front if him, then across to Voldemort and Firelight who both had a hand on Catalina's shoulders now, watching him in silence. He winced slightly, but glared across to Voldemort whose red snake-like eyes watched Harry carefully.

"Catalina?" he whispered, trying to make eye contact with her, "Catalina, can you hear me?"

Catalina stared back at him impassively as Firelight and Voldemort began to laugh, their mirthless voices bouncing off the walls of the chamber. Harry knew if this was Catalina, he could reach her somehow, they had been friends for so long, and had so many good times, it was impossible for her to act like this now.

"I would save your breath if I were you Potter" spat Voldemort, "She is here for a purpose today"

"And what's that?" asked Harry shakily, inching forward towards his wand.

"To create the downfall of Harry Potter," he said with a cold hard look, "I think it's rather poetic that the person Harry Potter loves in his life the most, will be the person that ultimately ends it"

"She wouldn't do that to me" whispered Harry as cold dread flooded his veins like icy water.

They began to laugh again as Catalina finally pulled her hand from behind her back. Harry felt himself stumble backwards hastily until he pressed up against the wall when he saw what she held in her hand. It was a knife and its long silver blade was glinting in the candlelight innocently. The carved wooden handle rested lightly in her hand, and she held it in front of her with the air of a professional.

"They say a persons weapon of choice says a lot about the person themselves" said Voldemort conversationally.

"Catalina?" leaded Harry shakily, as she took a step away from the two men and towards him.

Firelight and Voldemort were laughing at Harry's desperate pleading with Catalina who was stepping closer and closer to him, with the knife held in front of her.

"You can't be here! It's not her! She's at Hogwarts" Harry said, telling himself as much as telling them.

"The real polyjuice impostor is at Hogwarts," Firelight said watching Harry through narrow eyes, "Catalina left Hogwarts last night, and was replaced by a loyal servant"

All at once Harry realised why Catalina had acted so strange when he'd visited her before they had left Hogwarts, it wasn't even her. The Death Eater didn't know they were going to put Catalina in a shield, he was trapped now in Hogwarts and would alert the Order member to the switch when they changed after an hour without the polyjuice potion.

"She wouldn't hurt me," said Harry desperately, "she wouldn't hurt anyone!"

"Well, let us test your theory Potter. The next apparation field should be going off at any moment, let us see who it brings for our youngest member to deal with."

"Petrificus Totalus!" hissed Voldemort, and Harry didn't have the foresight or the energy to dodge out of the way.

Harry felt his entire body freeze, as his arms and legs snapped to his side. He was completely unable to move, save for his eyes that were fixed open and staring. Catalina was stood in the centre of the room, swirling the knife idly between her fingers and Firelight and Voldemort were walking out the room. As the got to the doorway Voldemort turned around and addressed Catalina.

"Catalina, _kill _the next person who enters this room"

The door snapped shut and Catalina glided over to the other side of the room for Harry who was watching the scene with mounting panic. He couldn't move, he couldn't speak and he wouldn't be able to warn the next person in this room what was going to happen to them. They would walk straight into a trap that Harry couldn't prevent, although he prayed to God that the Catalina he knew would never harm anyone. 

He watched as Catalina got to the opposite wall, transfigured her robes to the scarlet ones of the Order, curled up against it and began to cry. Harry's thoughts were all that were moving and he began to see what she was doing already. He hoped and prayed whoever it was that would be brought here was not anyone he knew.

She stayed like that for a few minutes, the seconds creeping back so slowly that it felt like an eternity, just waiting. Then in an instant there was a loud pop in the room. There was a flurry of robes and Order member that was thrown to the floor before jumping up with lightening reflexes. It was an auror from the Ministry that Harry only knew by face not by name, and she held her wand out and regarded the scene quickly.

Harry's brain was screaming out loud, but he couldn't move, couldn't make any sound to alert the auror to his presence behind her or not to go across the Catalina, which she was already doing.

"What is this place?" she asked Catalina quickly as she approached, "Hey, are you ok?"

Harry pleaded for Catalina to see sense, pleaded for the person to not move any closer, pleaded to be able to use his voice against to scream the warning that was building up inside of him. But none of his prayers were answered and in a sudden movement Catalina spun around. The knife in her hand glinted for just a moment before it disappeared into the robes of the women.

She let out a scream of pain Harry couldn't block his ears from hearing, and the woman gasped as she looked at Catalina, who was just smiling. There was the terrible sound of Catalina dragging the knife back out again, as she held it by her side, her hands and knife dripping to the floor with scarlet blood.

The woman clasped a hand to her gut and fell to her knees gasping for breath. Harry couldn't even close his eyes from the scene as Catalina stood above, with her knife dripping on to the floor slowly as the sounds echoed around the room, and the woman choked slightly. She slumped forward in one movement, and curled into a ball of shuddering pain, and then she stopped moving.

Catalina had killed her.

*

Harry watched in silent horror as the woman lay on the floor with a pool of blood rapidly forming around her, and running between the gaps in the floorboards. Catalina stepped back and stood still, holding the knife at her side. He felt bile rise up his throat, at what he'd just witnessed and the lack of remorse Catalina was just showing for the person she'd just _murdered_.

"Finite Incantem" she said in a steady voice, and Harry felt the feeling and control rush back into his muscles.

Not a moment too soon either as he spun around and gripped the wall and was violently sick on the floor. He felt utterly horrified by what he'd seen and was too busy squeezing his eyes shut with pain that he didn't notice the rock where his hands were placed on the wall was cracking and crumbling. Small rivers of blood were spreading across the room, and Harry heard the splash of wet footsteps approaching him. With shaking legs and slightly clouded vision, he spun around to see her standing in front of him, not moving.

"Why…?" spluttered Harry disgustedly, "How…how could you do that Catalina?"

"I was told to," she said simply, "I am sorry"

"No you're not!" spat Harry, dodging away from her and the knife, "You don't have any clue what you've just done, do you?"

"I am sorry" she repeated.

"Catalina? Why are you doing this? We we're friends, I loved you!" pleaded Harry desperately, edging towards his wand again.

"The power of the Magus must be destroyed" she told him, cocking her head to the side as if she didn't understand why he'd just asked such a stupid question.

"Why?" asked Harry, "You're a Magus! Your father's a Magus!"

She considered the question thoughtfully and adopted a faraway look in her eyes as she recalled the answer, "We are too powerful to be able to pose a threat to the Dark Lord"

"I'm not! I don't know how to use it!" shouted Harry.

"One day you will Harry, and on that day he won't be able to stop you and the forces of light," she whispered.

Harry had nearly reached his wand, and bent down to pick it up in one swift motion, holding it in front of himself defensively. Catalina's expression didn't even flicker, as Harry felt the pain in his scar increasing, Voldemort was coming back.

"The power of the Magus must be destroyed" she repeated, as the door burst open and in strode the black robed Voldemort and Firelight again.

Firelight immediately walked over the body, and turned her over. He grinned unpleasantly at what he saw and walked over to Catalina and squeezed her shoulder gently.

"The way to a persons heart is through the stomach, is it not Catalina?" asked Voldemort with cruel amusement, causing Harry's stomach to lurch again. 

"I trust you believe us now Potter," hissed Voldemort striding towards Harry, "Catalina _is _capable of harming someone, and do not think she will not stop at you."

Harry merely backed up against the wall in some kind of horrified trance, it had been terrible, disgusting, truly horrifying. He seen people die before, but never at the hands of a weapon, never so messily and in so much pain.

"Didn't you like our little show?" asked Voldemort harshly, "Don't worry you'll be getting a first hand view soon enough"

Harry swallowed nervously, and couldn't stop the mounting panic that was arising within him. Catalina was capable of anything now, as much as he pleaded with himself that it wasn't real, wasn't right. He had to face the terrible facts. Catalina had betrayed him, she'd used him, she was a murderer, part of the Death Eater movement, and she was going to kill him…

Part of him couldn't believe it, part of him still wanted to believe it was some kind of terrible nightmare, part of him wanted to curl up in a ball till it all went away. But he was here now, and he had to deal with the fact.

"Any last requests Harry Potter, before you are finally out of my life?" asked Voldemort coldly, regarding Harry with the utmost loathing.

Harry's mind raced, he had a million and one questions he wanted to ask, but his mouth wouldn't work, he was too scared. He could feel the emotions being turned into energy, and static leapt form his fingers, but he didn't know how to use it – it was useless. He hid his hands from Voldemort and Firelight though, he wasn't sure of the extent of their knowledge about him, but he wasn't about to be able to volunteer new information.

"Have a little bit of fun with first my sweet one" said Voldemort, stroking Catalina's hair lovingly.

Harry visibly cringed, and Catalina brandished the knife in front of her again. He began to back away, his eyes flicking from the knife to the locked door constantly, before he made a dash over to it.

He only got half way across the room, when he felt the crackle of energy all around him as he was picked up off the floor. He struggled as he was hovered mid-air, and Catalina strode towards him. He squeezed his eyes shut and kicked out a foot violently. He grimaced when it connected with something soft and heard a grunt of pain. He opened his eyes to see Catalina lying on her back on the floor gasping for breath, and she rolled onto her front and pushed herself up shakily. Harry was still hanging uselessly in the air, and she ran over to him quickly, obviously angered by him fighting back.

She stared up at him furiously, then raised herself into the air, until they were both hanging a few meters above the ground.

"Do not do that to me" she hissed, before floating backwards across the room.

Harry watching with mounting panic and crackling lines of energy began to dance across the room crazily, before zooming towards her hands. Her fingertips glowed white and the air in the room began to whip up and blow like a storm. Harry's robes were flapping against his skin and his fringe beat his forehead as he felt the energy gathering uselessly at his own fingertips.

She looked positively terrifying as the pushed the collected energy outwards towards Harry, it carried him upwards, towards the vaulted ceiling of the room, then stopped. Nothing was holding him up now and gravity soon took over and he flew down rapidly towards the floor. Harry screamed as all he could think of nothing but the rapidly approaching ground.

It halted suddenly, and he was floating again, his heart was thumping so fast and he was breathing so deeply he didn't notice it for a second. Yet when he did, it stopped again instantly, and he fell the rest of the sheer drop, landing with a sickening crunch on the wooden floor.

He screamed aloud in pain, and his vision dimmed so violently he thought he had slipped out of consciousness. But the shooting pain coming from all over his body was enough to keep him awake, but only barely. 

He couldn't breath, and he struggled to pull in the slightest breath, all the time aware of two cruel voices laughing mirthlessly. Eventually he managed to shake away from the darkness threatening to take him, and he crawled to his feet, where he swayed unsteadily. White lights were dancing in front of his eyes and his legs buckled suddenly under his weight.

Again the high cold laughter echoed through the room as he pulled himself to his feet again, and sought out the figures in the room. Catalina was standing shockingly close to him, he hadn't heard her move. She placed a steadying hand underneath his elbow, he looked at her in confusion before wrenching his arm from her grasp and stumbling backwards. The small glint that had been present in her eye faded and he heard Voldemort speaking again.

"Catalina?" he asked sharply, "Why did you stop him from falling?"

She didn't answer him as Harry desperately tried to remember the fall. He had fallen a long way before he had stopped, but he didn't know who had done it. He couldn't tell whether it was Catalina controlling him, or some kind of survival mechanism triggering off his deeply hidden magus powers. 

"Catalina?" demanded her father forcefully, "Answer him!"

"I did not stop him" she told them eventually.

Harry gasped with the realisation that he had done it himself, and so did Voldemort and Firelight for a completely different reason. 

"He cannot do that!" shouted Voldemort at Firelight, "You said he should not be able to control them!" 

"He cannot! He should not be able to! Not yet!" said Firelight hastily, and Harry had some satisfaction in seeing him look worried for the first time.

Voldemort glared at Harry furiously, whose scar began to burn even more fiercely than before. He bit his lip against the pain and swayed slightly were he stood, still feeling dazed from his fall.

"Enough of this. Finish him off!" shrieked Voldemort angrily. 

Catalina strode forward purposely and Harry felt himself resign to the undeniable fact of what was going to happen, he was going to die right then and there, in the cold chamber all alone at the hand of the person he had loved so much. The pain in Harry's head was blinding now and huge tremor suddenly shook the floor of the room, making Voldemort and Firelight look around suddenly.

"That was not us," said Firelight in a low voice, "Dumbledore must be approaching"

Voldemort nodded quickly and Harry felt a moment of sheer happiness and relief course through him. Dumbledore was coming! He knew he wouldn't be left alone, and the moment of hope had given him extra courage. He had his wand back, the forces were coming, and if he could just make it through the next few minutes everything would be all right…

"Go and sort him out" spat Voldemort, and Harry felt his stomach plunge.

Would Dumbledore be able fight against the power of a Magus? If anyone could it would be Dumbledore, but he feared for the Order members around him. Firelight swept out of the room, and Harry was left alone with Catalina and Voldemort.

"I'm sure I shall be able to oversee this little adventure" said Voldemort condescendingly, "Finish it."

Catalina nodded and brandished her knife once more, and Harry backed away quickly. She strode forwards and halted slightly halfway across the room. Harry looked across to her unsteadily, as she seemed to shake her head slightly, and stride forward. Again when she was nearly in front of him she stopped.

A look seemed to flicker through her eyes, and Harry stopped flinching and looked across to her curiously.

"Kill him!" commanded Voldemort in a steady whisper.

Again she shook her head and reached out to Harry, grabbing a handful of his robes and pulling him away from the wall. She held him close staring at him impassively, and he was uncomfortably aware of the cool blade of the knife sticking into is stomach delicately.

"Catalina?" he whispered desperately, "Catalina, pleased don't do this!"

Again something flickered in her eyes, and Harry's stomach gave a leap of hope.

"Kill him!" shrieked Voldemort impatiently.

The blade was pressed closer on command, and Harry gave a gasp of pain.

"Catalina?" Harry questioned desperately again, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry if I hurt you!"

"KILL HIM!" roared Voldemort.

She tried to do two things a once. Pull the blade away, and dig it in. She lifted the blade up, but not away from his body so that it carved a deep cut up his stomach. Harry cried in pain and doubled over clutching his stomach. He drew in a few shaky breaths, and he heard Voldemort shouting at Catalina.

He looked up through his sweaty fringe and saw Catalina standing above him acting very strange. She was digging the blade into the air in front of her, then using her other hand to stop herself. 

"FINISH HIM OFF!" he screamed at her and she turned towards him again.

He watched her eyes, emotions were flickering through them, and the knife fell to the floor with a resounding clatter. Voldemort began to shout and Harry dragged himself to his feet. Catalina was struggling with herself and Voldemort was striding towards her quickly.

And all at once, it hit him.

A thousand emotions coursed through his veins, and he couldn't prevent himself screaming out loud – a sound matched by her voice across from him. He fell to the floor at the same time she did, clutching his stomach as too many emotions took control of him.

They were ear-splitting, blood-curdling screams as Harry felt not only her emotions rushing back towards him full force, but power. It was leaping across his fingers like static energy and building up inside him so painfully he couldn't think. White energy was collecting above both their heads, whipping the room up in a storm as it had before, and the floor began to shake violently. The screams continued as dust from the ceiling began to float down, then small pieces of rock. As the floor shook the wooden boards began to twist and warp – shrieking under the pressure.

Harry did the first thing that came instinctively and held a blood soaked hand out in front of him, the lightning bolt scar was burning fiercely, and out of the corner of his dimming vision he saw Catalina doing the same. The air was becoming too thick with light to see or breathe in, and there was a huge rush of light and sound as the floor gave an almighty wrench and split down the centre. There was a massive explosion of energy that knocked Voldemort to his feet, and threw both Harry and Catalina across the room and against the wall.

And then it stopped.

*

AN/ dum de dum dum, another cliffe! I know you all hate me profusely, and not just for my cliffs, but also for my lack of consistency with the posts. This actual story was written a year ago, then left at the end of chapter 30. I am just writing this as I go along lol!

PLUS, I have tonnes of college work, essays and exams, as well as my job! And it doesn't help when the sites down for ages and my comp wont work…excuses excuses. So big sorry's to you all, and here's this chapter to make up for it!

Thanks faithful reviewers

Dementorchic - Yet again thankyou for your reviews. You must be one of my most prolific reviewers and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Goldensnitch - Sorry about you getting glasses…its too much fic I tell you! But I know how you feel, my glasses were destroyed by a bus last week so now I'm squinting at the screen too! Thanks for the reviews!

Someone - I wonder what you reviews going to be like now you've read THIS chapter! I was trying to go for a sixth sense twist, what you thought was going to happen did, because you thought it was going to happen…or did it? Lol, am confused now as well - What you think of evil Catalina now?


	33. Not All Is What It Seems

AN/ CONGRATULATIONS TO **SLONE**, MY 100TH REVIEWER! I can't believe so many people are wasting their time reading rubbish like this lol!

See end note for important announcement!

****

~*~*~ Chapter Thirty Four ~*~*~

Not All Is What It Seems

There was a confusion of noise, colour and movements when Harry struggled to open his eyes. Masonry was falling form the roofs like a storm shower and all around there was the hiss and creak of destruction. He blinked rapidly, trying to shake the fuzzy lines around him and surveyed the scene. 

It was utter devastation, part of the walls had collapsed and the beams off the roof were lying haphazardly across the room, straddling the gaping cavern of the fracture of the floor. Harry winced against the stinging pain of his stomach and pushed some of the rubble from around him. The last thing he remembered was the light and a huge implosion before being thrown against the wall. He struggled onto his knees and breathed deeply as he got to his feet, across in the wreckage lay Catalina who was already stirring.

He didn't know what to do, in one moment all of Catalina's emotions had rushed back into him and the amount of emotion had been painful. She was terrified, confused, sickened and he took a nervous gulp and ran across to her slipping and sliding on the debris. She was already blearing opening her eyes, whose feline pupils blinked in the light, as she winced in pain. The entire one side of her face was covered in blood, and she was having trouble getting focused.

Harry slid to the floor and peered into her face, and her eyes said it all, they were brimming with emotion, completely different to the almost comatose state she was in before. They focused on Harry and another sickening wave of terror passed through him from her. He stared at her for a few moments and she at him, before she burst into tears.

"Catalina?" he whispered anxiously, hovering between staying as far away from her as he could and staying to see what was wrong.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know" she cried desperatly.

"About what?" asked Harry uncertainly.

"I didn't mean to. I'd never do that. I'm sorry, I didn't know. I didn't mean to. I'd never do that…" she was whimpering over and over again.

Hysteria was rising within Harry's chest and was crashing down upon him like waves, her eyes had slid out of focus and she kept repeating the lines over and over again.

"Catalina?" he said shaking her roughly, "Catalina, what happened?"

"They came, they took me. They cursed me, I couldn't stop, I didn't know, I didn't mean to, I didn't want to" she said her voice rising and rising.

She suddenly scrambled to her feet and Harry jumped away from her, before she turned around and was violently sick on the floor. Harry turned away and surveyed the scene. Voldemort was under the rubble somewhere and they had to get away as quickly as possible, before anyone turned up. Harry placed a hand over his stomach that was burning fiercely, and turned to see Catalina wiping her mouth with a shaking hand.

"I killed her…I killed her… I killed her…" she kept repeating faintly, looking down at her hands in horror, and blanching at the blood on them.

Harry didn't know what to do or say, suppose this was another plot to lure him away. He didn't know whether Catalina was friend or foe, but he had no time to debate.

"We've got to get away before-" started Harry before the air began to pop, signaling to appearance of apparated people into the room. 

They were all black robed, and were surveying the wreckage of the room quickly. Several ran over to a heap of rock under which Voldemort lay. He was pulled to the surface and revived and all at once the pain in his scar tripled and he clutched it with a hand sharply. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Catalina do the same, but he had no time to look at the small details.

Four Death Eaters and the newly restored Voldemort had their wands trained on them, and many of them Harry recognised. Malfoy was there, steadying Voldemort, as well as Firelight, whose face was the very mask of furious anger.

He strode forwards and grabbed Catalina viciously by the arms and dragged her over to the Death Eaters, as she cried and whimpered with pain and terror. Harry made a reach for her, but he had withdrawn her into the fold too much and Harry was pushed back roughly.

"What are you doing?" the man hissed at his daughter, shaking her roughly.

"You cursed me" she whispered in a vague way, every emotion from her was screaming terror as well as shock.

"You could not fight that! You are _not _powerful enough to fight that!" he raged.

Catalina did not reply and made a wrench to get away, but her father was holding her in his vice-like grip.

"Out of my way! Out of my way!" shrieked Voldemort pushing aside the Death Eaters and hauling Catalina away from her father.

He held her by the front of the robes and close to her face and she grimaced and fought tooth and nail to get away, gasping and crying out. Harry was gripping his wand so hard his nails were digging into his palms painfully, but the row of Death Eaters were shielding him from getting to her.

"You need to be taught a lesson in what to do when you are given a command…you OBEY ORDERS!" he shrieked, throwing her to the ground roughly.

"_Crucio_" he yelled.

Catalina's pain reached him long before her blood-curdling screams began to echo around the devastated room, and he was brought to his knees. He had to gasp and choke for breath as the feeling of a thousand knives hit his body and through the screams of his own mind and mouth he could hear and see Catalina. She was writhing on the floor, with her hands clamped around her heads and she shrieked – long, high and torturous, as all the time her father and the assembled Death Eaters stood above, watching with cruel glee.

And for the third time that night Harry felt the energy beginning to form at his finger tips and see the white light dancing long before it appeared in the air, curling between the two like a storm cloud. Through the eternity of pain Harry could feel the instinct taking over again. The lightening bolt scar on his palm burn as it was raised with a violently shaking arm and aimed at the nearest Death Eater whilst all around him the shouts of the Death Eaters were heard. 

"Stop the curse, they're building power!"

"Stop the curse!"

"STOP THE CURSE"

The combined cloud of white light suddenly leapt from Harry's fingers, but it did not see whether it had hit the target or what it had done as the never ending pain nearly broke him. He crouched into a ball, holding his stomach as his shrieks matched Catalina's. Then the curse was suddenly lifted but the pain remained as Harry lay on the floor gasping, all around him the Death Eaters voices bored into his skull.

"What did it do to him?"

"What happened then?"

"Stunned or dead?"

"They shared the curse…they can't do that!"

"Stunned, but I am not sure"

"What is happening? You said this would not be a problem – his powers _are _developed!"

"They cannot be, she told me he'd only had them a few months at the most…this is impossible!"

"Impossible or not, it is happening!"

Harry raised his head, and then his arms and pushed himself to his knees. He felt so battered and bruised he wasn't sure if his body would hold together if he moved it another inch. He climbed unsteadily to his knees, and pulled a portkey from his pocket. With a click the button was pressed, and the surrounded were unaware as they continued to argue. Their voices echoed oddly in Harry's head, as if he were hearing them under water or far away. Across from him Catalina was also getting to her feet and he threw the portkey heavily at the nearest Death Eater. 

He disappeared with a pop and instantly they began to screech and scream and Harry vaguely felt a curse hit him in the chest. He stumbled backwards and fell down and was too tired to move again, it was so dark all around him and he was so tired he closed his eyes and let his dreams take him and his pain away from the place of blood and death.

*

"_Enerverate"_ came a harsh voice what felt like moments later.

Harry begrudgingly opened his eyes to see Malfoy standing above him, his pointed, pale face covered in a film of sweat and dirt.

Harry commanded his screaming muscles into action and scrambled backwards away from him. Catalina was now standing up, being held in place by thin beam of black light that was leaping from the fingers of her father. Her eyes were dim again and she was slack-jawed, not moving and barely even breathing. Her emotions had disappeared again, whatever curse they kept putting her under was blocking everything.

"What are you doing to her?" asked Harry in a horrified voice.

His question wasn't answered and he climbed to his feet unsteadily. His stomach was burning with pain still but he ignored it, as he saw the knife from earlier being pressed into her hands.

"Kill him now" whispered her father in her ear, and she was pushed forward.

Again she made the slow procession towards him, stopping and starting slightly. And Harry suddenly realised it must be the imperio curse that was doing whatever it was to her, and she was trying to fight it, but couldn't quite match the power of her father. He knew if he could wake her, the same thing that had happened before would happen. The tidal wave of emotions that flew through them both would create another burst of uncontrolled magus power and it would rip the house apart. 

He measured destroying the house against saving their own lives, and chose the latter, hopefully he would be able to direct it, most of it came as instinct, but if he got through to Catalina, maybe she could direct it through herself.

"Catalina, its Harry! Don't listen to them, fight it, you don't have to give in, I know you can fight it" Harry said frantically. 

Catalina halted in her tracks, to the screams of annoyance and frustration from the others assembled. The emotions were flickering through her eyes again and he braced himself for what was about to come. And when it did come it happened so fast that Harry barely had time to react.

She dropped the knife to the floor again with a clatter, and the emotions hit him again with the force of a tsunami. He reached out and grabbed her hand and pulled him across to her and the pain and the feelings pulse through them, threatening to throw him back into unconsciousness. He felt a scream of pain building inside of him, and they were staggering backwards quickly as the light above them whipped up into a storm again. The shouts of the Death Eaters were drowned out by the noise as Harry fought to stand upright despite the noise and confusion around him. Instinctively he had placed the palm of his scar hand against Catalina's and both their free hands were outstretched in front of them. The lightning crackled, whipped around their heads and was pushed forward with a shriek.

Again the building began to creak and groan as it fell apart and despite the falling masonry, Harry and Catalina had managed to stay upright, and were surrounded by their red shield, emblem blazing on the front. 

The three figures in the room were also casting shields and without a word Catalina and Harry turned and ran out of the room. They didn't have a clue what direction to run, but pounded down one corridor as fast as they could manage. Every now and again he see shadowy lumps lying across the floor, wrapped in scarlet or black cloaks and Harry blanched at the sights and smells. His head was full of emotions and noise and chaos and the wounds on his stomach and body, which were beginning to burn in agony. He had to slow down until they were nearly staggering, and he kept his dimming vision fixed on the black cloak moving in front of him.

They were approaching the staircase of the main entrance hall and Harry and Catalina staggered down. A few steps from the bottom Harry felt his world lurch suddenly and he tripped and fell down. He lay at the bottom breathing shallowly as the pain became unbearable. 

Catalina's face appeared in his line of vision, the blood down the one side of her face made her face look even paler than it was. Harry winced as he tried to lift his head and white dots of light exploded in front of his eyes.

"Harry, can you hear me?" she whispered, saying the first coherent sentence he'd heard her say all night.

Harry smiled dimly, he could hear her, but she was speaking so quietly. He pressed his hands into his stomach which was wet and painful as the cloth stuck to him.

"Hold on," she said, her voice so faraway now he couldn't hear her, "I'll heal your stomach"

He watched through his fading vision as she stood up and pointed a finger at himself. He smiled vaguely as the line of energy leapt from her fingers, but never reached him. She staggered backwards as something hit her then she disappeared with a sudden pop. There was more confusion of noise and colour and people flooded into the room before the world spun in front of him and his vision went black.

*

AN/ And that, as they say, is that. Don't worry we have about 3 more chapters to go, BUT everyone hates buts I am going to Spain in 10 hours time for a surprise birthday present from my family, SO I won't be back until the 3rd of MARCH! 

Sorry everyone that's waiting for the end of this, but I should be able to get started off on a sequel! Thank you to EVERYONE that reviews, from the people that review every chapter Dementorchic, Ezperanza, Someone to name but a few, to those that only ever dropped in once to say hi.

And if you bear with me, to read the end of the story – you are truly dedicated readers!

Sorry if this impromptu holiday annoys you all, I may we have to expect hate mail after a cliffie like that, but I would prefer it if you told me on your thoughts of Catalina? What she was doing, why, how and where she is now?

WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK IF HER?


	34. The Prisoner of Azkabam

AN/ I'M BACK! Full rambles found at the end only to say "Here comes the Jonathon Creek/Sherlock Holmes science bit"

****

~*~*~ Chapter Thirty Five ~*~*~

The Prisoner of Azkabam

Harry's hearing returned a long time before his sight did. He was in pain that's all he could tell, not even located in one part of his body but everywhere. He grimaced and listened to the noise around him. Hundreds of voices were talking quietly, but the combined sound filled the room with noise that was hurting Harry's ears to listen too. He dropped a heavy hand onto the floor and found soft sheets underneath instead.

He prised his eyes open and found an invasion of light and colour. Everything was white, except for hundreds of vague shapes of scarlet red. He closed his eyes and grimaced in pain then opened his eyes again more forcefully.

They were people, masses of people milling about what Harry suddenly recognised as the Hospital Wing back at Hogwarts. He almost whooped in relief. He wasn't back at the manor, he had got away, and he was going to be ok. He looked around and found an Order member standing off to the side with a bandage wrapped around her head.

"What…what happened?" asked Harry brokenly.

The woman whipped around and hurried across to Harry's side.

"How are you? Where do you hurt?" she asked quickly, peering into his eyes worriedly.

"Everywhere," grimaced Harry, "What happened?"

"You just wait there. I'll get a doctor" she said and hurried off.

Harry waited patiently, looking around the room trying to find Ron and Hermione who he'd last seen in the corridor before he was transported away. He couldn't see them from where he was and he was shocked at how small the group of people seemed to be. There was at least 30 people missing if this was the entire Order gathered, and Harry hoped and prayed that they weren't dead.

Soon a doctor Harry had never seen before had rushed across with a haggard look on his face. He muttered a few spells and Harry immediately felt his breathing become easier. He was asked a million and one questions about his condition quickly and was soon left by the doctor. Harry pushed himself out of bed, his stomach still hurt but not as much as it had when he'd fallen down the stairs at the Riddle House.

It was then that his memory replayed and he remembered meeting Catalina, seeing her dark mark, her killing that woman, dropping him from the roof, then escaping with him. He pushed a bandaged hand against his eyes to try and block out the light and noise so he could remember what had happened. Then it suddenly hit him, Catalina's emotions were gone, he couldn't feel even the slightest twinge coming from her. 

He suddenly felt extremely worried yet confused and threw off his blankets. He stumbled to his feet and went to find anyone – Sirius, Dumbledore, Lupin, Ron or Hermione...anyone who could tell him what had happened and where Catalina was.

Harry didn't have to go far as he saw Dumbledore striding towards him quickly, followed by both Sirius and Lupin. Harry burst into a broad smile for the first time, they were both ok, apart from the cuts and bruises that covered their body. 

"Sirius! Remus!" exclaimed Harry, pulling his godfather into a grateful hug, "Thank God you're ok!"

"Harry, how are you?" he asked seriously, peering into his face worriedly.

"I'm fine," said Harry impatiently, "Where's Ron and Hermione?"

"They're here, recovering on the other side of the ward, don't worry they're ok"

Harry breathed a momentary sigh of relief.

"How's Catalina?"

The three men shared a uneasy look and Harry felt terror grip his heart again, why couldn't he hear her, why they were looking so grave?

"What? What's wrong?" he asked desperately, "She's ok isn't she?"

"Harry, get back into a bed," said Dumbledore softly, pushing Harry back down.

Harry stumbled backwards feeling extremely panicked by their serious expressions.

"No, what's wrong? What happened to her? She's ok isn't she?"

Dumbledore sighed heavily again, and pushed Harry forcefully back into the bed, as he shrugged off his attempts impatiently. Harry looked at Sirius pleadingly, then at Lupin, who were both looking saddened by Harry's reaction.

"Sirius?" he pleaded, "Remus?"

Sirius's eyes were blazing with anger by his expression was sad. He looked at his godson uncomfortably and Harry felt the bottom dropping out of his stomach.

"Can I have a moment alone with Harry?" asked Dumbledore kindly.

The two men walked away from Harry's bed and he watched as they walked across the room and sat on two chairs, talking quietly between themselves seriously.

"She didn't…she wasn't…she is ok isn't she?" Harry pleaded with Dumbledore.

"She is alive Harry," said Dumbledore, but there was something lurking in his eyes that told Harry that wasn't the reason for his hesitation. 

"What? What's wrong? What's happened?" he asked anxiously.

"Harry, Catalina was captured by an Order member as she was trying to kill you. She is in Azkabam as we speak." said Dumbledore heavily.

He gave a cry of alarm and jumped out of his bed quickly, yelling out again in pain as he pulled his stomach. Dumbledore looked alarmed and pushed him downwards again as Harry gritted his teeth sharply. Harry felt like all the air had been knocked out of his lungs – Catalina was in Azkabam?

"Wh-What? Why?" Harry spluttered as the colour drained out of his face.

"Harry," said Dumbledore, almost shocked at Harry asking such a question, "You knew this was going to happen, I warned you before"

"Forget the bloody prophecy for a second! She wasn't trying to hurt me, she was trying to heal my stomach!" said Harry angrily.

"Harry," said Dumbledore seriously, "She was found with the Dark Mark on her arm, she was wearing Death Eater robes, she had been switched with a polyjuice impostor the night before the attack…she'd been passing information for weeks."

"They we're making her doing it! She was being controlled! It wasn't her, she wouldn't do that!" cried Harry franticly. 

"Harry, I know you have strong feelings for her, but you cannot let them blind you, you must face the facts – Catalina was the traitor," he told Harry consolingly. 

"You're the one being blinded! By that stupid prophecy, she was being controlled!" Harry told him fiercely.

"I am just going by the evidence Harry," he told him.

"But Sir, you always said that everybody deserves a second chance! She hasn't done anything wrong, it was her father – Charles Firelight, he's a Death Eater, and he's been gathering forces from across the world!"

"And those forces started at home I'm afraid Harry," said Dumbledore heavily.

"No! Listen to me, we were there together! She was under the imperius curse, but she fought it and we escaped from Voldemort and Firelight and Malfoy!"

Dumbledore gave Harry a long look, and something flickered in his eyes that Harry could not translate. 

"Perhaps Harry, you should tell me what happened to you last night," he said gravely.

So Harry did, he told him everything that happened since they had appeared in the graveyard. All about Nagini, and the sonic bombs, the apparation fields and Wormtail. Then he told him how he'd been transported into the room, and how Catalina was there and acting strange, and everything her father said and Voldemort. But when it came to the part where the Order member had been transported in, and how Harry had to tell Dumbledore her fate, he found it hard to speak. 

"…and she stabbed her…and I couldn't do anything…and she fell to the floor…and Catalina was just standing there with no emotion on her face at all," said Harry feeling horrified and sickened once again.

Dumbledore looked saddened, and he stared off into the distance for a while. Harry knew Catalina was not in control, but the memory was stuck in his head, playing like a film without sound. 

"She didn't know sir, she couldn't fight the curse…she only did when her father took his off and left us alone with Voldemort – she was strong enough to begin fighting his," said Harry, looking almost pleadingly into Dumbledore's eyes, desperate for him to believe him. 

"Please continue Harry," was all he said though.

So Harry finished his story, telling him about the magus powers that kept getting out of control every time Catalina's storm of emotions came back to him, how they'd escaped, how he'd fallen down the stairs and Catalina was going to heal him before she was captured. When he'd finished speaking Dumbledore let out a long sigh, and a frown creased his already wrinkled skin.

"Harry, I could not have foreseen this…the prophecy-" began Dumbledore before Harry cut him off.

"The prophecy was wrong," Harry cut in angrily.

"Perhaps," said Dumbledore thoughtfully, stroking his beard.

Harry watched him carefully, he looked as if he was doing some serious thinking, and his blue eyes were flickering from side to side as if he were reading some kind of invisible. He's studying the prophecy Harry suddenly thought, he's reading it in his head. 

"…And bitter thoughts will seek an end, In the arms of the enemy. Not all is what it seems," murmured Dumbledore confirming Harry's suspicions.

Harry gave an involuntary shiver.

"You said that Firelight and Voldemort knew of your powers?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes, they both did, they couldn't understand how we were using them when we…when she was released," Harry told him slowly.

"But we only came to that supposition a few weeks ago," said Dumbledore getting up and pacing the room, "So from this we can conclude she got in touch with her father recently, after I would not break the connection, to ask him to do it."

"I suppose so…" said Harry curiously.

"And bitter thoughts will seek an end, In the arms of the enemy," Dumbledore said quietly, "Catalina wanted to break the connection and my rejection drove her unknowingly into the arms of the enemy – her father."

Harry nodded slowly, he didn't want to believe that the prophecy was correct, he didn't want to know his life was just some part of a preordained script, he didn't want to know that he was just an actor saying his lines with no control over his future.

"Not all is what it seems…we always assumed that this was a reiteration of the fact that she could not be trusted…obviously it was meant to mean that her being the traitor was not what it seemed" said Dumbledore in wonder.

"So this book of prophecies is all true? I have no control over my life," said Harry glumly.

"Harry," said Dumbledore seriously, "As this latest revelation has proven, these prophecies are neither precise nor informative…you yourself do not believe in it."

"But you do Sir, and I trust in what you believe in," said Harry, rather embarrassed to be admitting that to his mentor.

"Then think of it as nothing but the wishful thinking of an old man who has spent too much of his spare time on foolish quest."

Harry smiled at Dumbledore's jovial smile, saddened by the look of depression that haunted his eyes. He was slightly heartened by the old mans attempts and turned his attention to the wider picture.

"What happened last night?"

"Many of our members were killed, too many," said Dumbledore with no trace of his former mirth, "27 lives is too much of a sacrifice."

Harry have a gasp at the figure and raised a shaky hand to his mouth. Twenty-seven people? That was almost a third of the most powerful witches and wizards in the country – just gone, in one night? It wasn't fair and Harry gulped heavily before asking the next question that he was dreading the answer of.

"Was anyone I knew…was there anyone hurt I know?" he asked fearfully.

Dumbledore gave a heavy sigh and sat back down on Harry's bed, causing cold fear to rise up in his chest. Harry could see it in his eyes, someone was hurt…or worse.

"Percy Weasley," said Dumbledore, voice cracking uncharacteristically, "Percy Weasley, has been missing since the end of the attack."

Harry gave a cry of alarm and gazed in open-mouthed horror at Dumbledore, continually stuttering his denials. It wasn't possible, not Percy…he was so young, he had so much to live for. It wasn't possible that one minute he could be there and the next not. 

Harry felt hot tears prick the corner of his eyes and he didn't brush them away, Percy deserved more. Dumbledore talked quietly about how bravely Percy had fought, and how he was last seen chasing a Death Eater down one of the corridors. But all he could think of was Percy's face, fighting not to laugh as his twin brothers pulled a prank on Ron during the summer holiday. How he'd shouted at him and Ron for disturbing his work on his cauldron report during the holiday previously, and how he'd been forced to do a small Irish jig by Fred and George when they got tickets to Merlin's Magical Wonderland.

"He could…he could still be ok?" questioned Harry hopelessly through his tight throat.

"We performed a Magical Signature Sweep for him…there was no trace," said Dumbledore lightly.

Harry nodded, feeling crushed. He'd never been particularly close to Percy but he had a kind heart and the Weasley family would never be the same without him. 

"Does Ron know?" he asked eventually.

"He has been told," Dumbledore said with a sad shake of his head, "He has been most inconsolable. I'm afraid he does not believe the news, he may still be in shock."

Harry felt terrible, he should have been there for Ron when he found out, to lend a few words or a shoulder to cry on. Anything but sitting here uselessly, so wrapped up in his feelings over Catalina to even ask about anyone else first. 

"Is everyone else…ok?"

"I'm afraid Arthur was also injured in the fight. He has taken a serious blow to the head and is in a deep sleep at the moment," said Dumbledore heavily.

Harry gave a violent start, pulling on his tender stomach as he desperately shook his head.

"Not Mr Weasley! He'll be ok wont he? He will…he'll be ok…won't he?" Harry stuttered wildly.

"Only time will tell," said Dumbledore, looking the most crestfallen Harry had ever seen him, before repeating quietly almost to himself, "Only time will tell."

Harry felt himself shivering with fear, Percy, Mr Weasley, countless others…For no reason. All they had done was try to stick up for what they believed it, what they knew to be right. Did the person who did those things think about their families? Their lives? Or was it just another kill, another statistic.

"What's going to happen now Professor?" asked Harry shakily.

"Voldemort has been exposed, the Wizarding community knows of his rebirth. The news of our attack has been spread across the world already," said Dumbledore heavily, "Many of the captured have been named in the paper this morning."

He handed Harry a well-worn newspaper and Harry was shocked to see anger blazing in his eyes. It was all too much to take in, the world finally knew of Voldemorts re-birth, they could get help now, they didn't need to work in secret, but it had all come at a terrible price. Harry looked from Dumbledore to the paper taking in the huge headlines, and grisly accompanying photos.

He read open mouthed about the Minister of Magic's statements about his denial of previous knowledge about the planned attack or even Voldemorts rebirth. From the way the paper was worded Harry could see that the Minister was in less than good favour at the moment and calls were already being made for a vote of 'no confidence' to be passed within the Ministry.

But it was the third page that caught Harry's attention. It was a list of all the captured Death Eaters, but right at the top was one name, a photo and a large article.

"Catalina Firelight," he read out loud in shock, "The heiress to the Firelight fortune was captured in last nights raid, after being found baring the robes and mark of the Dark Order. It is believed that she was the traitor passing information to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named from the resistance being massed within Hogwarts, using her close connection to one Harry Potter."

He looked up to Dumbledore in alarm, who merely shook his head and bade Harry continue. 

"In a shocking twist, Catalina Firelight has developed a close connection with the boy who lived and used this to her advantage. She was captured attempting to perform the killing curse on Mr. Potter and is currently residing with Azkabam, which is no longer under the care of the Dementors. Her father Charles Firelight was also witnessed at the scene but has since disappeared, leaving his wife, Mary, distraught."

Harry placed the paper on his sheets, feeling suddenly sick and light-headed again. None of that stuff was true, and now Catalina was gone, caged up like an animal in the formidable Azkabam. 

"Its all lies" he whispered hoarsely, as Dumbledore merely nodded.

"Fear does strange things to people Harry. You must remember that we have had a year to get used to the fact that we do not live in a perfect world, these people," he said motioning to the paper, "the people that will be reading that article, are finding their world crumbling around them."

Harry nodded sadly, and looked around helplessly, she was stuck in the hellhole for no reason other than the cruelty of her father and the Death Eaters, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Will she get a trial?"

"I don't know, I expect she will," said Dumbledore, "The law is a little hazy around such an incident, she is too young to be accountable for her actions, but such are the times that I do not think that will matter."

"Can I do something? Testify?" asked Harry quietly, dreading the answer.

"I do not know Harry. I will try and arrange something." he told him.

Harry nodded glumly, staring back at the picture of Catalina in the newspaper. It was the same one that had appeared in the Daily Prophet and pictured her father standing there with his small smile, and the now young looking Catalina smiling slightly. He threw the paper to the floor in disgust.

"I have much to do Harry, I'm sure you would like the see Sirius and Remus now," said Dumbledore with a kind smile, "I shall inform them of the situation."

Harry merely nodded and watched the old man walk off. So the whole world knew about Voldemort now? At least that was one good thing that had come out of such a disastrous attempted ambush. Harry had a feeling this would go down in the Orders history as a low point. They had lost so many people, they had been outmanoeuvred, out done and spied on so much they had been basically been walking into the situation blind.

Harry could see Sirius talking to Dumbledore across the room in a low, yet furious voice, and for a long time they stood there arguing. Harry looked away, yet again the situation between Firelight and Sirius was clouding his judgement. It wasn't as if Sirius had ever even _seen_ Catalina, and Harry felt sick with the way that everyone had judged her. Admittedly the evidence was stacked against her, but once Harry told them what had really happened, they would understand and feel stupid for believing the papers. 

Sirius however walked over at that moment and sat on the side of Harry's bed in silence. Harry watched him for a few minutes as he stared at the floor.

"Do you know, this is going to sound really horrible, but when I found out they'd caught that girl I was almost glad," he said monotonously, "I though, 'finally I've been proven right'."

Harry didn't say anything, leaving Sirius to explain his thoughts slowly.

"And then when I found out why she'd been captured, apparently trying to kill you…I felt terrible, because you liked her so much and you'd been let down again."

Harry nodded for him to continue, not trusting himself to speak, too much had happened to him in such a short space of time that he couldn't believe. 

"And when Dumbledore just told me that she was innocent, I felt cheated somehow. All this time I've been making you miserable by telling you she's dangerous, evil and all that stuff, and she wasn't…"

"Everyone makes mistakes," Harry said quietly as Sirius continued to stare at the floor.

"Yeah, but I seem to be continually screwing up!" he burst out angrily, jumping up from seat and pacing the floor, "I promised James and Lily I'd do my best to protect you if anything happened, and look what good I've done! I've been out of your life for 12 years and screwed up the rest of them!"

"Sirius!" said Harry, shocked by his sudden outburst, "It's not your fault!"

"Of course it's my fault. I'm supposed to watch over you, make sure you don't come to any harm, but every single time…every single time I just can't seem to do it," he said with a defeated sigh.

"Sirius," said Harry hesitantly, he didn't know when he'd ever seen his godfather like this, "I knew what I was getting into, we all knew what could happen…you can't protect me from everything."

"I can't seem to protect you from anything," he said hollowly, "James would be so angry with me…so so angry."

Harry was even more shocked to see Sirius looking so upset, he had tears glistening in his eyes and Harry felt an uncomfortable lump in his own throat.

"Sirius," he whispered uncertainly, "He wouldn't…he'd know you were doing your best."

"But I'm not am I?" he asked, that dead look in his eyes he had when he came out of Azkabam. 

"You are for me," said Harry, "You're the only family I've got now."

Sirius gave him a look, before pulling him into a bone-crushing hug and Harry winced in pain but didn't say anything.

"I'll do better from now on though" he said firmly, after he released Harry, "I promise."

Harry merely nodded.

"I'll help you get her out of Azkabam Harry…and then when all the fuss has blown over…maybe I should finally meet her?" he suggested hopefully.

Harry gave a laugh and nodded in agreement, although he knew it would never be that simple. Even if everything Harry hoped for would come true, that Catalina would be released, that she would still be his Catalina, it wouldn't be the same.

"And there was one good thing that came out of that whole fiasco," said Sirius with a grim smile.

"What?" asked Harry curiously

"Hermione managed to do a bit of rat catching last night," he said with a wide grin splitting across his face.

Harry gaped at Sirius uncertainly, and tried to mouth a few reactions, but was too shell-shocked to speak. Meanwhile the Sirius who was sitting on the bed, looking completely transformed from his morose appearance a few minutes ago.

"Wh-W- What?" stuttered Harry.

"Harry, say hello to Wormtail," he said, pulling a glass jar from inside his robes.

Harry nearly died with shock as he saw a fat rat, formerly known as Scabbers, scrabbling inside the small jar, squeaking madly. He took it with shaking fingers and got a kind of grim satisfaction from seeing Wormtail desperately trying to get as far away from him, with one silver paw tapping the glass noisely. He stared into the small watery eyes of the rodent for some time, thinking how if this rat had never been born, he'd have a family, he'd have a mom, a dad and maybe even a few brothers and sisters. But instead he was here, with the rat and his godfather, two parts of the three closet links to his father.

"Hermione put an unbreakable charm on the jar," said Sirius happily.

"Hello Wormtail," said Harry nastily, tapping on the glass, "Isn't our Hermione clever?"

*

AN/ Hey Guys. Now for starters I like to get the following out of my system "Woweeeeeee, woweeeee wohooooooooo! 135 REVIEWS?!"

::ahem:: 

Yeah well, I am back! Spain was lovely! Very hot and very relaxing, although my skin stubbornly refused to tan and am as such still pasty English girl! 

So! You all liked the story while I was away (obviously, my email box was over flowing with 44 reviews!) all baying for blood at my impromptu holiday, but I'm back now, ready and raring to continue with the end and the sequel (which is already 4 chapters long!)

So what DO you think at the recent turn of events, I had many a review saying I better not dare and do exactly what I did an make Catalina innocent, but hide your faces you shameful people! Don't you want Harry to have ANY luck? He's busting his guts off saving the world (albeit very badly, with many hospital scenes and a couple of hundred backup guys), he deserves a little happiness!

But for all you angst lovers and seekers of reality - Book 6 proves to have a lot more detail about the (lets face it) rather illusive Catalina!

So all that's left to do, is leave a helpful message or hello below, and for me to say "Did you read the newspaper articles that reckon Hagrid's the one being killed off during book 6! I know! No way!"

ALSO, readers of the Brit film and cinema magazine EMPIRE…turn to page 72 of Feb's copy, and there you will see a piccy of exactly what our fair Catalina looks like. I tell you what it was so strange, I was flicking through and BAM, there she was, sitting there right out of a scene from my book! Tell me what you reckon. I'll try and link the site…


	35. The Epilogue

AN/ This is actually the epilogue for my story…think of it as a couple of months after the last chapter…ITS THE LAST one, and explains what happens at Catalina trial. Think of the intermediate space as done…

****

Epilogue

Harry was sat nervously on a wooden bench in a cold stone-lined room. He had been sitting there for sometime now, and he cast a wary glance at his two guards. He didn't know why he needed them, it wasn't as if he was the one on trial, yet as soon as he was taken to the Ministry of Magic building in London, these two men had followed Harry's every move. They wore plain black robes and were heavily built and they were obviously hired for their muscle power over their intellect.

"How much longer until I have to go in?" he asked one of them in a small voice. 

"When you're called for." replied one.

Harry nodded hastily and looked away. The fear, no, not fear, the _terror _that had built up inside told him Catalina was not far away at all. In fact she was only on the other side of the thick stone wall, currently being held securely until she would plead her case in front of two hundred witches and wizards from the Council of Magical Law. On several occasions he thought he was going to be sick as not only her but also his dread, terror and horror threatened to overwhelm him. 

He hadn't seen Catalina since the moment she'd been transported away all those nights ago, and had not spoken to her properly for many weeks previous to that. He missed her terribly and cursed himself for not having the foresight to see what was going to happen. If only he'd told her about the Order before, if only they hadn't fallen out her father would never had got the chance to kidnap her, to turn her into some kind of mindless zombie to do his bidding. 

Soon he would be called in to give his evidence to the Court, and then they would hear from Catalina, she would be there right in front of Harry. He wished he could just walk right through the wall and tell her that everything was going to be ok, that he would tell them everything that happened. But he knew he couldn't.

Harry had his elbows on his knees as he bit his nails anxiously. He hoped his evidence would be enough, he prayed that they would believe him, he didn't want her to have to go back to that place again. The mere thought of it, the mere suggestion caused another flood of fear to pass over him. 

Suddenly the heavy wooden door was thrown aside, and Harry scrambled to his feet. He looked between his two guards and they merely stood behind him a pushed him forward slightly. With quaking legs and a heartbeat that as rolling like a drum in his ears, he stepped through the door.

He emerged into a huge stone lined dungeon he had only ever seen three times before, and at that time he had been in a memory. But it was not discernible from the existing scene. With torches on brackets on the walls Harry could see hundreds of witches and wizards sat along benches that stepped up towards the back wall. Not one space was free and hundreds of pairs of eyes watched him as he walked across the huge expanse of floor towards the wooden chair in the centre. Harry noticed with a thrill of fear that this chair still had the chains encircling it, waiting for him expectantly.

As soon as he had walked through there was a great hiss of noise and people began to whisper and point at him curiously. Harry swallowed nervously and watched the floor carefully, wiping his sweaty palms on his robes self-consciously. 

He approached the chair and sat down in it unwillingly, he flinched slightly but the chains refused to move. He let out a shaky sigh and for the first time looked at the people in the crowd. He saw Mrs Weasley near the back on his left-hand side, sitting with Bill and Charlie who all looked pale faced and worried. Directly in front of him sat Dumbledore on the right hand side of a man Harry had never seen before, but was immediately intimidated by. He was built along the lines of the guard and had a strong jaw line and pronounced chin, though he looked at Harry with a mixture of sympathy and kindness.

"Mr Potter, you have been summoned to the Council of Magical Law today to give evidence in the trial of one, Catalina Aurora Firelight." said the man in a loud voice, that echoed around the now silent room.

Harry gave a small nod of his head and Dumbledore gave him a smile of encouragement.

"You must swear to tell the truth, to the best of your knowledge, understanding that anything you say can be put under the harshest scrutiny" he said reading from a piece of parchment in front of him.

"Harry," said the man more kindly now, "Do you understand what I am saying?"

"Yes" whispered Harry as his voice cracked, before clearing his voice and speaking louder, "Yes, I do."

"Good. Then I shall begin. Can you please tell me Harry where you met Miss Firelight?"

Harry swallowed nervously, and looked down at his hands before speaking, unable to take the stares of all those people focussed on him.

"We met in the summer, at Diagon Alley when the Weasley's took me shopping for my school things. She was having an argument with someone from school, I stepped in and introduced her to my friends from school"

"I see. Did you recognise her?" he asked, to Harry's slight confusion.

"Yes, she was in an article in the Daily Prophet a few days before. I'd seen her photo and worked out she was going to be in my year at Hogwarts" Harry said quietly.

"Did she recognise you?" he asked, again confusing him.

"Yes I suppose she did. Most people do" said Harry slightly bitterly, and was shocked to hear some titters from the surrounded witches and wizards.

"Quite," said the man, before thoughtfully looking around the room, "Could you tell me what your relationship is with Catalina Firelight"

Harry for some reason blushed at this and studied the floor very closely before answering, "We became good friends at Hogwarts, especially after the Halloween attack on Hogsmeade."

"Ah yes, the Halloween attack. You and Miss Firelight were the two students hurt in the attack is that not so?"

"Yes, we we're hit by a curse while inside a shield charm" he answered, shuddering at the memory.

"This curse, was Avada Kadava was it not?" he asked off-handily.

His answer wasn't heard among the storm of not so quiet whispering broke out around the room, and many people even exclaimed out loud in shock. It took a few moments for the Judge to get control over the room and when he did so fixed Harry with an almost Dumbledore-like stare.

"Could you please answer the question so everyone can hear the answer" he told him, not in a angry voice.

"Yes" said Harry loudly.

More whispering broke out and Harry shifted uncomfortably.

"So for a second time you have managed to survive such as curse Mr Potter, do you have any reason why?"

"From what I believe, it was something similar to what happened when my mother saved me the night my parents were killed" said Harry quietly, causing more whispers to break out, this time ones of sadness.

"For those of us not quiet up to date with proceedings, can you elaborate?"

"She used some kind of old charm, ancient magic to protect me I think…she loved me so much that when Voldemort tried to kill me as a baby the curse rebounded upon him…" said Harry in a slightly broken voice.

"So, this curse sent to you last Halloween rebounded off the both of you because you loved her so strongly?"

He said it so simply, yet everyone burst out in indignant hisses and whispers between each other. They still thought she was guilty and Harry waited patiently for them to stop as his heart hammered. He hadn't even told Ron and Hermione about that and now he had to tell a room full of strangers. When the noise did eventually quieten down Harry stole a glance at Dumbledore who was smiling encouragingly.

"Yes. That's why" 

"I see," said the man as if Harry had admitted nothing more than enjoying a meal, "So what were the consequences of this attack?"

"We were in a coma for a long time, a month I think," said Harry trying to remember the time that was till very hazy, "But when we woke up we found the curse had caused strange side-effects"

"Strange? In what way?" asked the man, all the time jotting notes down on the parchment in front of them.

"We knew when each other was hurt…or when the were sad, or happy or angry," started Harry unwillingly, "Stuff like that"

Again whispers broke out among the benches, but the man merely continued on regardless.

"You could feel each others emotions then in essence?" he asked casually.

Harry nodded wordlessly, sick of hearing the sound of hundreds of whispers all around him, talking about him. 

"How long did these side-effects last?" he asked.

"They never stopped" said Harry firmly.

"I see. And was that the only side-effect of the attack?" asked the man curiously, while Harry got the feeling he already knew his story already and was just relaying it for the audience.

"No. When the first curse rebounded off me as a baby, its transferred Voldemorts gift of being able to talk to snakes onto me" said Harry, still shuddering at the thought of Voldmeorts gift inside him.

"And the same thing happened this time?" 

"Sort of, her ability of magus power was transferred into me"

Whispers were abandoned at this point and many people did not censor themselves from shouting out loud and talking hastily to the people around them. Everyone looked shocked and a little more than afraid and Harry closed his eyes to drown out the picture of the pointing accusing people. The wizard could not regain calm for some minutes and eventually the noise had quietened down into the now normal background hum and hiss of whispers.

The judge looked less the fazed by Harry's admission and merely jotted down the fact onto his parchment carefully. He looked up thoughtfully and Harry started back waiting for the next barrage of questions.

"So what happened after you found out about this emotional connection and Magus power sharing?" asked the man.

"We didn't tell anybody and we never talked about it between ourselves" Harry told the man quietly.

"And why was that?" he asked.

"I don't know. We didn't think it was possible, or that people would believe us. We just wanted to get on with our lives"

"And I expect there were times when that was impossible due to these gifts?"

"A few," said Harry thinking back to when Malfoy had locked Catalina in the cupboard, "I didn't know of the Magus power until I had an argument with someone at school."

"I see…" said the man thoughtfully, and pausing for some moments, considering his next question, "I believe you were warned from becoming too close to Muss Firelight?"

Harry was thrown by this sudden change in the direction of the questions and shifted uncomfortably. Sirius might well be getting freed, but he didn't want to proclaim his involvement too loud. He looked nervously around the room before answering his question.

"Yes, yes I was. A close friend of my father told me that he had once had a run in with Charles Firelight," said Harry with a grim smile, "They didn't think it was a good idea to be getting to close to the daughter of my dads enemy."

Some people tutted in the background and some of them let out a laugh as the man gazed piercingly at Harry. He obviously knew he was talking about Sirius, but seemed to understand Harry's reluctance to say his name.

"I believe you became involved in the resistance movement quite early on?"

Harry was again startled by the new line of questioning, "Yes, I suppose I was"

"What were you doing within the resistance?" asked the man.

"We attended meetings, and I tried to help the other members to try and find a way to protect the Firelight family, who we thought were being targeted by the Death Eaters"

"Interesting…and when did you find out about the planned attack at Riddle Manor?" asked the Judge, gazing down at Harry. 

"A few weeks before I believe," she Harry.

The man laid down a few of his papers, and looked around, as if he was assessing the people's reactions to both Harry and story. He however, didn't give anything away in his face, but Harry felt reassured anyway, he knew he story was true, he knew that justice would be served. It was while he was searching the crowds faces absentmindedly that he laid eyes on her – how could he have missed her? Sitting near the front sat what Harry could only assume was Mary Firelight - Catalina's mother. 

He knew it was her mother because of the startlingly similar way they looked, it was like looking at an older version of her. But she looked barely recognisable from the picture in the Daily Prophet she appeared in. She was crying, and it looked like she had been for some time, and Harry thought she looked alarmingly ill.

Harry did feel half so confident of himself now, he didn't realise she would be here, well he didn't even give a thought to be honest. He wondered what she thought, whether she believed him, believed Catalina. She looked close to a breakdown as it was, it must have been the news of her father, and he worried that this trial might push her over the edge. 

"Where you aware of whether Miss Firelight new of the plans or not?" 

"We didn't think she knew, she became a bit…distant a few weeks before the attack," said Harry awkwardly, knowing what the Judge was going to ask next.

"Why was she distant?"

Bingo.

"We had an argument…" said Harry, fidgeting with embarrassment as was almost angry to hear very quiet titters from the back, "She wouldn't speak to me."

Please don't ask me why Harry prayed in his head, he knew they wouldn't take to the idea she knew they were putting protections on her family, because she sneaked into the Order meeting.

"Why?"

Damn.

"It wasn't anything to do with this," said Harry hastily, as everyone looked on curiously, "It was just a stupid fight."

"Stupid enough to ignore you during the following weeks?" he inquired as Harry shuffled, "I daresay this created some bad blood between the two of you?"

Harry sighed heavily, he knew he was getting Catalina out of jail for this, but he hated being on show like this, it was his private life after all. It wasn't meant to be some kind of entertainment for the gathered. 

"Maybe. She went to Professor Dumbledore and asked him to break the emotion connection thing between us…"

Again the usual silence of the room disappeared when curious whisperings filled the room all directed at Harry, curious faces watching him, excitedly discussing the latest twist in the plot like it was some kind of soap opera on tv.

The Judge turned and said something to Dumbledore, who nodded obligingly and stood up to address the room. Instantly the chattering died down, obviously Dumbledore's presence was enough to capture their attention and wagging tongues. 

"Thank you," said Dumbledore obligingly, "I feel I must give my account in this part of the account. Miss Firelight did indeed come to me with this proposition. I told her I would do nothing without the consent of Harry, who I spoke to afterwards. I'm afraid the situation was neglected during the preparation for the attack, through the neglect of my own attention and no one else's."

Everyone nodded thoughtfully and Harry was deeply relieved he had said nothing about the prophecy – fake of real. He felt it was a cherished piece of information, only one of few he thought with sickening reality. 

"What did you think of this revelation?"

"I thought it was most peculiar, they had been such good friends and been through so much I was sure something must have happened. As it seems the argument was the catalyst, and when I could not give her the answer she desired, I feared she would turn to another's aid," said Dumbledore, capturing his audience completely.

"Who's aid did you suspect?"

"To be honest I feared the worst. The necessary spells and incantations to break such a connection are powerful, ancient magic and are highly dangerous. There are few who I believe could do it, and most o them would not have my scruples."

"You believed she would go to Voldemort?" asked the Judge, as the collective crowd flinched to varying degrees.

"Yes, I did. As it turned out, it was her father, not the dark side she turned to."

More mutterings, and Harry's eyes were transfixed by the sobbing woman in the front bench, how awful it must be for her to hear all this, about her daughter and husband? Harry felt instantly sorry for the poor woman whose shoulder was being rubbed consolingly by a woman with the same coloured hair and eyes – a family relation Harry decided. 

"Harry, were you aware she had got in touch with her father?"

"No, at the time we weren't really speaking," Harry said somewhat awkwardly again, "She used to disappear up to the Astronomy Tower a lot, we assumed she was just upset, but I think she must have been meeting him, or a friend of his there."

"What makes you think that?"

"When I saw Charles Firelight at Riddle Manor, I heard him talking to Voldemort about me and Catalina. About how my Magus powers weren't developed yet, about how Catalina had told him things about me. I thought that may have been how they captured her the night before the attack," said Harry, his heart beating painfully as he spoke about Catalina's betrayal before she was under the curse.

That was hurting Harry the most he thought, it was the argument before. It was the way she stayed so angry at him, the way she hated him being around so much she had to get rid of him by any means possible. Harry wondered if she could have hated him that much, and he was so lost in his only thoughts he nearly didn't hear the next question. 

"So you believe she was kidnapped from the castle, while you were asleep and unable to feel the connection?" summarised the Judge, taking Harry by surprise with his deduction.

"Yes," he said in a slightly shocked voice, before he continued, "I knew in the morning I wouldn't be able to feel her because she'd be inside our safety shield, so I wasn't worried about her absence in the morning."

"And in the meantime, the polyjuice impostor had been swapped and placed under the protection ward?"

"Yeah, I went to visit her just before we left, to you know, say goodbye. I thought she was behaving really strange – not like her at all. I put it down to the stress of what was about to happen and the fact the was claustrophobic in the shield."

"I see. So when did you first become aware of the swap?" asked the Judge, forwarding to the main event thought Harry grimly.

"When I was transported into a room in the Riddle Manor suddenly, and she was there…just standing there," drifted off Harry recalling.

"What were your first thoughts?"

"I thought, it's not her. I couldn't feel her emotions, so it was another polyjuice person," said Harry.

"And what changed your mind?"

"I'm not sure, It might have been when I saw her with her dad, or when she used her Magus power, I guessed a polyjuice double wouldn't be able to do that. But I didn't believe it from the beginning, I _knew _something was wrong," said Harry, almost to himself.

And it was true, from the moment he saw her, he knew something was wrong. He thought he knew her well enough. She couldn't have been doing those things, she wouldn't and Harry knew that as a fact – he believed it in the deepest part of his heart, he just had to make everyone else feel the same. 

"How did you know that?"

"She wasn't acting like herself, she had absolutely no emotions in her face, and she was just doing everything they were telling her, without question. It was so out of character" said Harry, feeling slightly ashamed that the thought that maybe she was guilty had even crossed his mind. 

"What did she do while you were in the chamber?"

Harry had been dreading this question. He knew what he'd have to tell them – he had sworn to tell the truth, and he was scared about what would happen if they found out he lied – would they send him to Azkabam? Harry suddenly felt like he wanted to be very far away from all of this, back with Ron and Hermione, sitting in the hospital wing waiting for Mr Weasley to wake up, or with his godfather – anywhere but here.

"Harry? What did she do during the chamber?" asked the man again, more loudly. 

"Oh, sorry. She er, had a knife…they were telling me that she was going to kill me," said Harry, struggling to get the words out, he felt uncomfortable connecting them in anyway to Catalina at all. 

More whisperings.

"And what did you do when you found out about this?"

"I tried to get away…I'd dropped my wand and the door was locked so there wasn't really anywhere to go though," said Harry, his mouth split into a grim line. 

"What happened next?" 

"I told them that I knew Catalina, and that she wouldn't hurt me…and they said they'd prove it to me…and she did," whispered Harry guiltily, "another Order member was transported into the room, and Catalina…she, she…"

"What did she do?" asked the Judge sharply, as everyone leaned forward in their seats.

"She killed her," whispered Harry quietly.

You could have heard a pin drop, everyone was silent now it had become so much more serious and Harry hated it more than the whispers. Catalina didn't know that that would happen, she couldn't stop herself he kept telling himself in his head, but the image was still fresh and raw in his head and he felt sick again.

"I knew it couldn't be her then, she wouldn't do that, she wouldn't I know she wouldn't," said Harry hastily, and was worried to see everyone didn't look much like they believed him.

"Yes, I see. Well what happened after this?" asked the Judge, who didn't look shocked at the revelation at all, and Harry knew there and then he knew everything that had happened from Dumbledore already.

"Firelight and Voldemort returned," said Harry after his throat had lost its lump, "and said it'd be me this time, and told her to kill me…"

"And, what happened next?"

"She floated me up in the air with her powers, so I couldn't move…and when she came near me I kicked her in the stomach," said Harry hesitantly, what would they think about that? But everyone was just nodding in understanding, "she got really angry and dropped me on the floor."

Harry was sure this lie was going to be suddenly detected, as if some sirens would go off and they'd all shout at him and ask him why he didn't tell them it was from the rafters, or how he'd managed to stop himself from falling all the way. But they didn't notice and didn't say anything and carried on to the next question.

"What happened after that?"

"There was a huge explosion, and that though it might be Professor Dumbledore, so Firelight left, so it was just the three of us. He told her to finish me off, and as she was walking towards me she was kind of stopping and starting…as if she kept thinking better of what she was doing, but forcing herself to do it."

"What did you think about this?"

"I knew then she was being controlled, our Defence teacher last year told us 'you can see it in the eyes'. Before they were just dead looking, and now, something was flickering in them like. And it got all buzzy inside my head, because I could feel her emotions flickering quickly, almost to quiet to be noticed," said Harry awkwardly.

"And you hadn't felt them all the way through the meeting previously?" asked the Judge curiously.

"No, I'd assumed that she'd either succeeded in severing the connection, or the curse was blocking it somehow…"

"So what happened then?" 

"Well as soon as she fought of the curse and was completely awake, all the emotions came rushing back at once, and it was all so…confusing and loud that it almost hurt. Catalina's magus powers were going crazy and there was a small explosions or something…"

Harry paused and gulped guiltily, would they spot another lie? He didn't have to tell them about _his _magus powers, they weren't exactly relevant were they? He realised they were waiting for him to continue and he cleared his throat and continued in a slightly shaky voice. 

"When everything cleared, I ran over to her and she was hysterical, kept saying over and over 'it wasn't me…I wouldn't do that' and then I heard her say 'They came, they took me. They cursed me' and I knew then she'd been cursed. Later on her father returned and tried to put the curse on her again, but she began to fight it again and I remember him screaming 'You could not fight that! You are _not _powerful enough to fight that', they kept trying to put the curse on her but it didn't work anymore…"

Harry could tell he'd stuck gold now, muttered the magic words as it were. People began to mutter between themselves in shock, discussing what he'd just said. Far from looking like they were thirsty for a conviction, they now just looked shocked and worried.

"We managed to get away, but we were so tired and hurt, and I fell down some stairs…she was about to hit me when she was captured by an Order Member, and was transported away…"

"And directly into a cell in Azkabam," said the Judge loudly, peering across the room, "well you have hear Mr Potter evidence, I suggest we dwell on it for a few moments before we bring in the accused."

And that was it, Harry's testimony was suddenly over and he was being led out of the chair while the noise volume in the room was suddenly turned up. No longer were they whispered voices, but loud angry voices, sympathetic ones and those who were merely looking on in disbelief. 

Harry was given the option to sit out in the waiting room, or take up a seat in the audience side of the chamber to watch over the rest of the proceedings. With a beating heart and a sick stomach he chose to sit in the audience, and was motioned over by the headmaster. Harry sat down with shaky legs, and leaned his head against the back of his seat and closed his eyes for a few moments.

"You did well, your evidence will surely save Catalina's life," said Dumbledore to Harry's left in a serious voice. 

"Do you think so?" asked Harry worriedly.

On the outside he looked just pale and nervous, but on the inside he was terrified. What if it wasn't enough? What if she was sent back? What if he never got to see her again?

"Undoubtedly."

Harry swallowed sharply when Catalina's emotions suddenly peaked in a terrifying way, obviously the guards had just gone into get her, and the Judge was standing up suddenly calling for silence. The chatter died down instantly, and every single pair of eyes were directed at the double doors Harry had walked through. His heart was beating so loud in his chest he was sure the other side of the room could hear it, and he was unconsciously gripping the arm of the chair until his knuckles had turned white. 

Harry sat with baited breath, awaiting his first glimpse of Catalina for such a long time. The whole room was silent and they all stared at the doorway, hearing the noise of shuffling feet and movement before the door opened. Harry held his breath as the door was swung open, and watched as a well-built guard, then Catalina, followed by another guard walked through the door.

Harry was shocked at her appearance, and he could tell a lot of the other witches and wizards were – she looked terrible. Her usually long, sleek black hair hung across her face in greasy strings, her skin was deathly pale, even adopting the yellow tinge of sickness. There were heavy black bags under her eyes, and the cut she received on her forehead at the Manor was not healed, and was still raw and open. She walked very slowly across the room, shuffling her feet almost painfully and Harry could almost feel her heartbeat rolling inside his own chest and certainly her fear was making him feel weak and sick himself. 

She approached the chair Harry had sit in with trepidation, and lowered herself into it. Almost at once the chains glowed gold before snaking their way around her hands and ankles, and she gave a muffled whimper. He shuffled forward in his seat and clung to railing in front of him, desperate to get a closer look at her, or make her notice he was there. She however, was now staring fixedly at the floor almost reminiscent of the way she'd stared at him whilst under the curse. But she was fully aware this time, and Harry was uncomfortably aware of the near hysterical fear that was hidden by the almost blank face.

"Catalina Aurora Firelight, you have been summoned by the Council of Magical Law to plead your case of your involvement in the Riddle Manor Attack on May 19th. You are accused of being in league with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and acting as a spy against the Hogwarts Resistance. How do you plead?" asked the judge, looking down upon Catalina imperiously.

She almost didn't seem to hear the question and merely gazed blankly at the floor before her mouth stuttered into action. 

"No…not – Not guilty" she whispered hoarsely.

She was really ill Harry thought suddenly. The yellow tinge to her skin and her shocking appearance wasn't the half of it, she was feeling physically faint and sick, and was having trouble keeping in control. Harry shuddered at the thought of her being locked up in that horrific place, surrounded by madmen and women, stuck on an island with no escape. It had taken more out of her than he could ever have imagined he realised as he watched her struggle against her rebelling stomach and wavering consciousness.

"You are further accused of attacking and murdering an Auror, one Jennifer Joseph. How do you plead?"

Again it took Catalina some time to answer and Harry edged further along his seat. Dumbledore shot him a warning glance as he practically hung over the side.

"N – Not…Not guilty" she managed to say.

"We have heard the evidence against you, is there anything you wish to add before the jury passes judgement?" asked the man, looking down at her in concern.

Catalina gave a shaky nod and Harry felt her anxiety peak and she drew in a breath and began to speak, so quietly that everyone had to shuffle forwards them selves to hear.

"I didn't know, I didn't do it. They were controlling me, making me do horrible, terrible, _disgusting_-" she broke of with a weak shudder, and the bitterness in her quiet voice was overpowering, "Daddy made me do it, I wouldn't have done it, I couldn't stop it…"

"When you say 'Daddy made me do it', what are you referring to? Explain what happened"

"They put a curse on me," she croaked, "Daddy and _Him_. I couldn't fight when they both did were controlling me…but when Daddy went away, I began to wake up"

"And what did they make you do?"

"Hurt people. Hurt me. They made me kill that poor woman, I couldn't stop myself. They made me hurt Harry…I hurt Harry, Harry's hurt, he's dead…all because of me, its all my fault" she was getting almost hysterical now, babbling her desperate pleas.

Harry felt his heart breaking as he could do nothing, and made a start to get up. But a pair of strong hands gripped the back of his robe suddenly, and Dumbledore pulled him back into his seat. The entire crowd began to mutter between each other as she continued her pleas and Harry knew that at any moment she would either pass out or be sick. 

One woman stood up angrily a few rows in front of Harry and turned to the judge, shaking her fist at him.

"Can't you see that the poor girls ill? Take those chains off her, she's not going anywhere" she spat, earning nods of approvals and even scattered applause from the surrounding benches.

With a wave the chains dropped from around Catalina's hands and feet, but she didn't look as if she'd even realised yet. The judge however, seemed to see her state now and gathered his notes in front of him with an air of finality that made Harry think he was about to finish it all.

"I suggest a recess, to allow the prisoner to recover. I suggest we reconvene here-" began the jury before he was cut off suddenly.

Catalina was shrieking and shouting up at the man with sudden desperation that took everybody by surprise, least of all Harry. He was filled with such a feeling of torture and despair that he had to raise a hand to his chest – feeling as if his heart was about to explode.

"Don't send me back there! Please don't send me away! I didn't do it!" she shrieked wildly struggling to her feet unsteadily, "Please anything but that! Kill me now, but don't send me back there!"

The two guards who had been standing by the door rushed forward, and placed heavy hands beneath her elbows and she pleaded with the judge. Harry could feel her terror at the thought of being sent back to Azkabam and her pleas were becoming weaker and fainter until her knees buckled beneath her. Then Harry felt the emotions dull suddenly, like a light switch being turned off and watched as the guards held her up. Her knees had buckled and she lolled in their arms like some grotesque puppet. 

Harry watched with open mouthed shock and fear as Medi-Witches were called for by the judge and everyone began to talk quickly between themselves, voicing their disgust mainly that such a trial ever took place. Harry stood up with the rest of the crowd to see her, as she was placed on the floor and fussed over. He could see various charms being cast and looked desperately at Dumbledore, begging him wordlessly to be able to go down and see her, to which he shook his head.

"You will get your chance to see her when this is all over," he told Harry calmly.

Harry however, was less than calm, and he was feeling liked a cadged animal as Catalina was again just out of reach from him.

"She needs me…" he said despairingly. 

"There's nothing you can do at the moment, you've done your part."

Harry frowned deeply and looked down at the Medi-Witch who muttered another charm. Suddenly the emotions came rolling back towards him, first confusion, pain, then realisation and despair. After a few minutes in which Harry could see nothing but the actions as the sound was drowned out from the voices around them.

Eventually Catalina was helped to her feet shakily, and placed back into the chair. Harry was relived to see the chains did not move from hanging limply to the side of the chair. The guards retreated to their posts, yet the Medi-Witch remained, with a hand firmly placed on Catalina's shoulder.

"She is not well at all Sir. I suggest we either wrap this up now, or finish at a later date while she recoups in hospital," said the witch to the now silent room.

There were mutterings of 'poor girl' and 'good grief' a long with a great deal others, which Harry couldn't decipher. He was too busy looking at Catalina to watch anyone else, as she was hardly holding her head up at all now, her chin kept bumping to her chest then jerking back up as if she were falling asleep then suddenly realising she shouldn't. 

"In the light of the medical advice, I also suggest we finish this now," said the judge, turning to the right hand side of the room.

The room went deathly silent, and Harry found himself praying. He didn't believe in God as such but now he wanted nothing more than a miracle. He wanted for her to be acquitted and for everything to be ok. He watched the jury with baited breath. He knew Catalina was awake enough now to understand what was happening and the waves of terror matched his own, as she slowly turned her face to see the jury.

"All those who believe Catalina Aurora Firelight to be guilty on one count of murder, one of attempted murder and one of aiding and abetting the Dark Side, raise your hand now."

Harry felt like he couldn't watch. Right now a group of strangers were going to decide Catalina's and, as it felt, his own fate. He scanned the room, and in the endless seconds he watched them. After an eternal wait, Harry realised that no one had put his or her hand up. He held his breath, fighting to pure joy and happiness that was flooding through his veins now. 

"The Court finds Catalina Aurora Firelight not guilty on all charges." 

There was a storm of clapping and cheers as the left-hand side of the room congratulated the jury for making the right decision and Harry let out a long steady breath, closing his eyes and leaning his head against the backrest of his chair. It was ok, she wasn't guilty. He'd known she wasn't but for those endless seconds he'd believed his prayers would not be answered. 

He could feel the slightly hazy feeling of relief and happiness coming from Catalina and in one movement vaulted over his bench. He continued like this down the descending benches causing indignant yells from the occupants, and he stepped on their parchments or bags. Muttering his apologies, he jumped down onto the floor of the chamber.

Catalina was staring blankly at nothing in front of her, and he ran across to her, kneeling down in front of her until she was eye level. He could hear people around him shouting and talking but he merely gazed into the now familiar cats eyes, which suddenly lit up with dim recognition.

"Harry?" she whimpered.

Harry nodded and reached a hand up to her face, it was shining with sweat and he brushed the damp strands of hair away from her face.

"Its all ok now, I promise" he whispered.

She gave a shaky nod, as of she were trying to clear her head of something. Harry was aware that people were standing behind him now, and he could vaguely hear Dumbledore talking to the gathering crowd. 

"I though I'd…I killed you" she managed to say, her eyes slipping out of focus slightly. 

"Of course not. Everything's ok now, you're free…" he said as she sharpened her focus desperately. 

"I'm…free?" she asked, as if she didn't know what the word meant.

"Free," said Harry happily, pulling her into a tight embrace.

He kept repeating the word as he rocked her slightly, trying to smooth down her greasy hair. She was crying into the shoulder of his robes, and the relief mixed with grief surrounded Harry. He'd waited so long for this moment, so, so long, and now it was here, he couldn't believe it was happening. 

He had buried his face into her hair, and sat awkwardly on his hunches for a long time. The voices were still around him, but he wasn't paying them any attention. Catalina had stopped crying and was now breathing shallowly, and Harry could feel her bone-weariness making him tired. 

The first thing wrong that Harry suddenly noticed was that her arms had gone rather slack, and then it was the heavy buzz beginning in his head that felt like it was drowning everything else. Then suddenly the emotions flicked off, as quickly as a candle being blown out, they were gone, and the sudden force of the blow was enough to make Harry almost wretch. 

He pulled her away and looked down at her. Her eyes were closed, her skin was still slightly yellow, and the thin film of sweat before had formed into beads on her forehead. Her head merely lolled backwards and he shook her slightly. 

She wasn't breathing.

"Oh my god…" said Harry in terror, "Catalina? Catalina?"

There were more voices around him now, closer and louder. He felt rough hands pull him away from her and she crumpled off the chair and onto the floor with a sickening thud.

"Catalina? CATALINA!" he shouted desperately as he was pulled away and the medical staff crowded around her once again.

He looked up to see Dumbledore restraining him tightly, looking on with the utmost worry lining every feature of his face.

"What's wrong? What's the matter with her?" Harry asked with almost childlike naivety, "Catalina?"

"I do not know Harry" said Dumbledore calmly, although his eyes looked anything but.

Harry gaped wordlessly between Dumbledore and Catalina, who was still lying on the floor.

"Why isn't she breathing? She should be breathing! Why aren't they doing something?" he asked in despair.

The Medi-Witch trained her wand on Catalina and whispered '_enerverate', _which had no effect whatsoever, and Harry gave a cry of alarm, desperately clawing away at Dumbledore to let him go, who merely held him fast. 

"Harry, you can't do anything," said Dumbledore, fixing him with a kind, yet long stare. 

Harry shook his head wordlessly and turned back to where Catalina, just in time to see her and the three Medi-Witches who were attending her to disappear with a pop.

"Where is she? What's happened? Where did they take her?" asked Harry in a panicked voice.

"St Mungo's I expect" said Dumbledore heavily.

Harry mouthed wordlessly. It was so unfair. She's just been set free, she was going to be ok, she could get away from all of this. She only needed to hold on a little while longer. He found himself trembling with fear, anger and most of all utter emptiness. No-emotions, and nothing but the image of her pale lifeless body lying on the courtroom floor to fill it.

****

THE END

AN/ OMG! It's the end of BOOK 5! It's taken over a year, but I finally, finally finished it! And OMG, I finished it on ANOTHER cliff-hanger. 

But don't worry people, there is actually a SEQUEL to this which will b posted up on SATURDAY night GMT and is called _Harry Potter and the Gathering STORM. _So what did you think? I had a few complaints that the whole it-was-the-imperious-that-did-it scenario was to fluffy and unbelievable, so hopefully this ending will satisfy the more sadistic among you! Lol. 

I really REALLY want to know what you thought of this story, what you thought of the characters, the plot lines, possible future plot lines…ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING.

So all that's left now it a big goodbye, THANK YOU to all my reviewers, if you've left even one, your name is going to be posted in the NEXT CHAPTER…check it out!

THE END

P.S. a funny thing happened to me on the bus home from college today (apart from sitting next to a Terry Pratchett lookalike in a green felt hat). I was going around a round about when I saw a flower delivery van with the words…

__

POTTER AND CHANG flowers direct

Now, I don't know about you, but that's not a little bit strange!?


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